Chronicles of the Elusive Angel 3: Peace
by Kenjaje
Summary: Our two hero's are now at peace; they know Angel is safe. Now, with Gantu back in action, they'll have to catch experiments again. That is, until Angel wakes Lilo with a strange find: Stitch suddenly dissapears during the night; gone without a trace...
1. Missing

Chronicles of the Elusive Angel (Vol. 3):

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 1: Missing

"Lilo, grab hold!" Stitch hollered reaching out his hand to Lilo, whom was dwindling crazily while hanging onto the ledge of the mountain trail. Stitch reached his arm as far out as he could, but Lilo was too far away for him to even get a close enough reach, and he wasn't able to latch onto the side; too much weight would dislodge the rock he was on, which was already off-balance to begin with.

"Stitch, you're too far!" She cried, trying her best to reach his outstretched paw, but her hand that held onto the lower edge was slipping, if Stitch didn't do something to reach her, it wouldn't be pretty. He looked around for something, a rope, a vine, something to extend his reach. He squinted as the crimson reflection off of Lilo's pendant came up under the lip of his eye.

"Eh, eh!" He said, thinking quickly of an object. He gripped his own pendant from around his neck and held it by the stone. He leaned over the edge twitching the looped rope. "Lilo, Lilo." He said, trying to get her attention; she was concerned about the hold she had on the lower ledge, but looked up to see Stitch's smiling face and the pendant in his hand.

"Rock-a-hula!" She cheered, gripping the rope of the pendant. Stitch pulled her up and took her off the unbalanced boulder just before it went crashing off the side to the bottom of the piedmont. "That was close. But where's dummie-head?"

"Zaza-ba!" Stitch pointed, and ran off in that direction, Lilo followed behind but was lost in Stitch's dust.

"Hey!" She moped with disappointment. "I wish he wasn't so fast..." Stitch, still running far ahead, now caught up to Gantu, whom was running to escape and take the experiment pod he had to Dr. Hamsterveil. Gantu turned around as he heard the footsteps of his little blue pursuer and gunned his pace even faster once he saw the bullet was on his tail. Stitch, however, still managed to keep on the tail of his enemy, and Gantu was desperate to the measure of taking out his blaster and attempting to halt Stitch with the point-and-shoot method.

"Hold still trog!" He commanded while running and firing at the dodging Stitch. To our hero, it was merely a game of cat and mouse as Stitch took a leap of life onto Gantu's back and covered his eyes with his hands, as his usual method was. "Hey, I can't see!" Gantu complained, while trying to fight Stitch off. Stitch's other two arms came out of his skin, and he snatched the pod which the big whale held in his hands and quickly took his arms back in, hiding the pod from sight. However Gantu had managed to grasp Stitch's back and pulled him off with one mighty tug, a moment too late however as Stitch now had the pod.

"Ju katchuta?"

"Oh you bet I'm angry!" He shouted, while pulling a second blaster and firing a shot, or at least a shot would have fired. All Stitch heard was the click of an empty barrel as he jerked his head to face his left shoulder. "Bah!" Gantu grunted, and tossed Stitch aside, hard, against the mountain wall, causing Stitch to make an indention of his body into the rock. _"You can have this pod, trog" _He thought sadistically, _"I've done my job, and when our plan kicks in, we'll have _you_ instead of that weak experiment!"_ He laughed to himself as he fled the scene, pretending like he had lost once again.

"Stitch! Stitch! ...Stitch?" Lilo ran past the crevice in the mountainside screaming Stitch's name, but then back tracked and looked over what she had missed the first time. "Are you ok?" She asked, as Stitch grunted with pain and lifted himself out of the hole that shaped around his body.

"Naga forubo, eh." He told her, shaking his head.

"Maybe if you hadn't have run off like that this wouldn't have happened." She said, folding her arms and looking away in a mock pout.

"Miga soka." Stitch said, now feeling completely bummed out about how he'd left Lilo behind.

"Hey..." she cooed, now realizing how bad her fake expression made him feel. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I was only kidding..."

"Huh?" He asked, now confused.

"You goof-ball! I wouldn't be mad at you over something like that. What do you think I am? Obsessively compulsive?" Stitch raised his eyebrow; Lilo straightened her face. "That's not funny..." Stitch smiled, the look of 'gotcha' on his face. "Anyway, did you get the pod?"

"Takah!" He proclaimed, extending his lower-left arm, revealing a small, concealed, blue experiment pod; the number's 055 engraved on it.

"Great! Let's take it to Jumba and find out what it does, so we can find the perfect place for it."

"Yeah! ...Ow..." Stitch said, rubbing the right side of his neck. A strange feeling of pain came to him, sort of a dull but deep throbbing pain, which got worse when he faced to his left shoulder.

"Are you ok?"

"...Eh. Stitch ok." He replied, where after came: "Ow..."

"What hurts? Let me see!" She demanded happily, toppling over Stitch and twisting his head to the left. He screamed loudly, but she seemed as if not to hear him while she examined his neck, and found nothing. "Nothing seems to be wrong." She lifted herself up and let Stitch go free, but he looked at her with big painful eyes, like a puppy that's just seen it's master leave it forever. "I'm sorry...did that really hurt you?" She folded her arms and held her chin at the knuckles of her hands looking down to the ground in sorrow.

"No." Stitch replied, a large grin now covering his face when she looked back at him.

"Hey! That's _mean!_"

"Lilo did it first!" He pointed out. She slumped her shoulders.

"I guess you're right, but still, you shouldn't have done it back." She told him, her hands on her hips. Stitch fiddled with his hands meekly.

"Stitch sorry." He apologized.

"No, it's ok. Now let's go, it's getting close to lunch time."

"But...buggy..." Stitch said, pointing to the side of the cliff. Lilo looked over and saw that the buggy they had used to get up to Gantu was now on the bottom of the cliff; Still in tact, but hard to get to.

"Can't you just climb down and toss it up? Or would that be too dangerous?" She said, handing back Stitch's pendant which she had pocketed until now.

"Uh...eh." He replied, after taking the pendant and placing it around his neck. He walked to the edge of the cliff, and jumped off, landing on the small buggy. "Iga...jiba...ziba!" He counted, lifting up the buggy and chucking it hard up and over the edge of the mountainside.

"Wow!" Lilo said in amazement, as Stitch climbed into the car acting as if that was nothing. (Which to him, it was.) Lilo climbed into the passenger's seat of the car, and buckled her seatbelt, as Stitch revved the engine and toggled the switch to reverse. He floored the buggy, except in reverse, sending them falling off of the edge of the cliff, and landing with screams at the bottom. Both of them were, of course, safe from the fall.

"Well now that was a waste of time wasn't it?" Lilo said, glaring at Stitch, who laughed embarrassingly.

"Ooops..."

"Jumba, Jumba!" Hollered Lilo, as she came crashing through the door to Jumaba and Pleakley's room. "Jumba we have another-what is _that?_" She stopped in midsentence; pointing to the small gun that Jumba was tinkering with on the table.

"Uh..." He said, turning to Lilo and trying to failingly hide what was on the table, even though it was pointless, as Lilo had already spotted it. "Is being...new toy?" He replied, except with a questioning tone and hopingly deceiving smile.

"Jumba," Lilo scolded, tapping her foot and twitching her finger, "is it something evil? You _know_ you're not supposed to be evil anymore."

"Is...not _evil_." He replied, holding his hands up to reassure her. "Is...just device that makes people more open to other people's feelings and puts them under a trance should they be hypnotized by 383." He said quickly, and still smiling deceivingly. Lilo tapped her finger against her chin thinking Jumba's explanation over, while a few beads of sweat came on Jumba's head.

"Hm...good enough for me." Lilo told him, shrugging her shoulders, Jumba let out a sigh.

"Now what is it you are wanting?"

"Stitch and I found another experiment pod." She said, motioning to her left, however had she looked she would have noticed that Stitch was not present in the room, but Jumba said nothing. "We wanted to know what it does so that we can find it's perfect place." She said, brining her hands together in a praying manner while looking up at Jumba.

"Eh...will get back to you on that, for now, Jumba is busy, bidding you for to goodbye!" He shouted, shoving Lilo out the door, taking the experiment pod and slamming the entrance shut behind her.

"Hmph. He needs to spend more time out in the sun, right Stitch?" She immediately noticed the silence, and also noticed Stitch was not next to her as she looked to the right. "Stitch?" She called, heading down the hallway. His reply was coming from downstairs; loud slurping noises came from the kitchen downstairs. "Oh no! The coffee machine!" But it was too late, by the time she came downstairs Stitch had already slugged half the quantity down.

"Uh-oh." He said as soon as he heard Lilo come into the kitchen. "Blah!" He threw the coffee pot down and ran as fast as he could out the entrance that Lilo guarded, she tried to grab him but he slipped out of her arms and went around the back of the house, Lilo chased after. They ran across the whole house, breaking everything in sight, and reached the living room as Nani came in through the front door.

"Lilo!" She yelled instantly, Lilo finally caught Stitch and skidded to a stop right in front of Nani, whom was glaring at the little girl most menacingly.

"Heh...hi Nani!" She greeted, trying to sound cheerful, and quickly had to revert to keeping Stitch close to her in her grasp. "How was your day?" She asked, struggling to hold Stitch still.

"Oh, well, it was fine until I came home to _a heart attack!_" Stitch froze and looked at Nani as he heard her angry shout. "This is _the _last time that little blue wrecking ball drinks coffee. You two, go to bed, no dinner, _now!_"

"But...but...it's only six o'clock-"

"_NOW!_" Lilo scowled to the ground, and let Stitch go, he used this as a chance to escape but Lilo then grasped the scruff of his neck.

"C'mon Stitch, let's go." She said, dragging the hyper ball of fur up the stairs and into the elevator up to the tower. "I wish Nani wasn't so evil. Sometimes I think she's more evil then Hamsterveil, don't you Stitch?" Lilo asked, coming out of the closet after changing into her nightshirt. "Stitch!" She scolded, when she came upon him reading a book. "That's my diary, give it back!"

"Naga!" He said, jumping up to his bed. Lilo slumped and walked to her bed as he growled possessively.

"Keep it, I'll come back to you when you're off your coffee rush." She grumped, scooting under the covers and closing her eyes to go to sleep. Stitch closed his mouth and looked sadly at Lilo, then at the diary he held in his hands. Lilo heard a thump as Stitch dropped to the floor and walked onto her bed, and rolled over when he tapped her shoulder.

"Uh...soka." He apologized, handing her the diary. She took it and placed it on the nightstand near her bed. "Why sad Lilo?" He asked, she had laid back down and tried to go to sleep again.

"It's nothing, I just-"

"Naga, Stitch know Lilo sad for reason. Tell Stitch, Stitch listening." He said, holding a hand to his ear.

"I wish Nani would understand how hard it is to look after you all the time." Stitch crouched over guiltily and looked away. "No...I didn't mean it like that." Lilo cooed, Stitch didn't show any false guilt; she knew he was really feeling badly, unlike that afternoon. "Does your neck still hurt?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Ecaba..." He replied, still not looking at her.

"Well lay down, I'll message it for you." She forced Stitch to lay on his side near her feet, even though he resisted, and proceeded to message the left side of his neck. She did this until he fell asleep a minute or so later. She rolled over, falling asleep herself.

"_Lilo...Lilo..._" A voice called, shaking the sleepy girl awake.

"Ugh...Stitch? What time is it...Angel?" Her eyes bolted open as she saw Angel standing over her on the bed, shaking her awake.

"_Finally! You sleep like a rock!_"

"Angel...what are you doing here? Where's Stitch?" She asked, pointing to her feet, where Stitch was now not present.

"_I don't know...I came to visit him tonight, and found him gone."_

"Stitch is..._missing_?"


	2. Search Party

:Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 2: Search Party

The sun cast its light into the windows of the tower, and onto the faces of the two girls sleeping, one in the large bed near the wall, the other where Stitch still remained absent. They both woke at the same time; Angel sat up while Lilo still lay with her eyes open. Angel had stayed the night in hopes of seeing Stitch return in the morning.

_"He's probably just trying to figure something out."_ Lilo told Angel only hours ago; _"He usually goes off on his own when he's really depressed. I know because I do it too sometimes."_ However, to their disdain, Stitch's bed remained Stitchless. _"He'll probably be gone for a while, but he usually comes back before morning. I kind of made him feel bad yesterday, I think he just wants some time alone."_

"This is _too_ much alone-time. Even for him." Lilo said. Angel didn't turn her head.

"_I hope he's not..._"

"Not what?" Lilo asked, as Angel trailed. But, she saw that Angel didn't want to say whatever she was about to, and decided to change the subject. "What were you doing last night anyway?" She prodded curiously.

"_I wanted to tell him something...that's all._" Angel spoke, jumping down from the height of the bed.

"Was it something important? Is it urgent?"

"_No, nothing like that, I just..._" Angel trailed again; Lilo grew suspicious.

"You're not hiding something from us again, are you?" Angel stared oblivious as to what Lilo was trying to lean toward, then realized that she was bringing up the past with Achie-baba Kino. Quickly Angel reassured.

"Naga, naga!" She almost pleaded; her eyes suddenly grew sad. Lilo saw Angel was telling the truth, she wouldn't deceive them again, whatever she had to tell Stitch was of a whole other matter.

"Well, if it's like that, then you don't have to tell me. I won't ask any more questions, but what about Stitch? Maybe Jumba can help, come on." Lilo grabbed Angel's hand, but Angel resisted. "Come on!" Lilo grunted, trying to tug Angel to the elevator.

"_Please, no, I can't see Jumba!_"

"And why not?" Lilo retorted, now gaining control in the struggle, and pushing Angel into the elevator.

"_I just don't want them to know I'm still here, it'd be better if-_"

"C'mon Angel, Jumba will help us find Stitch, just suck it up and _go in!_" Lilo pushed Angel out the elevator and up the hall, into Jumba's room, with much resistance. Jumba, while ticking away at his computer, was not surprised when Lilo rammed the door open, but when he saw Angel being dragged along by her, he began to revert to that state. However, his curiosity outweighed the lifted eyebrow of sudden wonder. "Jumba, we need your help."

"Ok..." He replied rhetorically, and with a hint of perplexity in his voice. "How am I being of assistance?"

"Stitch ran away," she replied explanatorily, "and we need you to track him down." She kept her charismatically pleading eyes fixated on Jumba as he scratched his chin.

"Has he...eaten cashew and shoe?"

"No." Lilo responded, predicting more questions to come.

"Shown any sign of aggressive hostile behavior and violent leering of oppressor?"

"No." She repeated, the same as before.

"Isn't he just going out for little while and then coming back later?"

"No, he's been missing since last night, and he always comes back before it's morning, he rarely stays out this long-Angel!" Lilo reached out and grabbed onto Angel, who was still exaggeratedly trying to escape and get away from the situation. Angel stopped her casual pace in mid step and turned around, with a small look of 'caught' on her face. "Can you help us track him down, Jumba?" Lilo asked again, turning toward the scientist.

"Well, luckily for you, computer scanner can pick up all experiments by genetic tracking system, it is being no problem to finding 626." Jumba grinned as he turned toward the computer and ticked a few keys, Lilo took Angel by the shoulder again and jumped up next to Jumba; the two onlookers watched with crossed fingers as one by one tiny blips came onto the screen, with numbers posted above or below them. Though, their hearts were let down; Jumba grunted with frustration and disbelief; Lilo groaned; Angel looked down at the floor; there was no blip labeled '626'.

"Jumba! I thought you said this would find him no problem."

"Bah, stupid junk, don't know what is being wrong with it. Is linked to Stitch's DNA. There is being no possible way for it to fail." Lilo dried a tear from her eye. Angel still looked uneasy, and Jumba rattled his fist at the computer for a moment longer.

"Come on Angel, let's go look for him outside, maybe he just fell asleep."

"Eh." Angel replied, happily.

"You try to fix that computer Jumba." Lilo ordered.

"Alright, alright. No need for to being pushy about it." Lilo quietly closed the door with a thank you, and ran upstairs to change while Angel proceeded on outside to look for the missing experiment.

"Oh...ah..." Came the disgruntled groans from inside the holding cell. Stitch opened his eyes blurrily, blinking three or four times and still not seeing clearly. "Aguta!" He shouted with pain, clasping the right side of his neck and thrashing violently. After a few moments, the pain subsided, and his hand relaxed from its tight grip. Instantly he felt something was wrong; on his neck was a large swollen lump, and open examining it with his fingers, it seemed to be pulsating-almost _moving_.

"Finally awake are you?"

"Gan...tu...?" Stitch slurred, looking at the blurry mammoth before him on the other side of the cell's glass.

"Aw, feeling a little painful aren't we?" He satanically cooed. Stitch began to growl, but as he did the cyst on his neck squirmed; he felt something inside of him move, he was sure this was no ordinary inflammation now. "Well, don't worry," Gantu continued, "soon, you won't be able to feel anything at all. And I mean _anything_." Stitch's eyes closed as he lost the energy to keep him awake, he found himself in an alert but sleepy state; awake, but paralyzed.

"Stitch!"

"Boochie-boo!"

"Stitch!"

"Boochie-boo!"

"Stitch!" Lilo and Angel called out for what must have been the millionth time, they'd searched nearly every square inch outside, even as far as the meadow of leaves. "It's no use." Lilo sighed, plopping down on the grass. "He's gone."

"Eh, naga chaki." Angel agreed disappointingly. They stayed outside in silence; Lilo fidgeted with the grass while Angel stood and pondered over Stitch's disappearance. _"...it's probably better that he isn't here, I'm not prepared to tell him yet...but still, where is he?"_

"...Angel?" Lilo hesitantly piped up, a thought had been provoking her mind ever since they had started searching.

"Eh?" She asked rhetorically, looking at Lilo.

"Why are you acting so strangely? Why are you avoiding Stitch?"

"_I..._" Lilo picked up a rock and tossed it just as Angel began to speak, but then she interrupted herself. "_What was that?_" She asked, her ears darting forward.

"What was what?" Lilo jumped up, looking at Angel, and then looking toward the direction Angel was looking; where she had thrown the rock.

"_I just heard a ringing noise coming from that bush._" Angel pointed.

"Are you sure?" Lilo leered. "Or are you trying to change the subject?"

"Naga," Angel replied sternly, "_I'm sure I heard a ringing noise, when that rock landed._" Angel pointed to the shrubbery. Lilo looked at Angel for a few more seconds, then turned toward the bush and walked over to it quietly, ready to turn around if Angel tried to run away. After pausing, Lilo knelt down and sifted around, pretending to look for something while still keeping an alert out for Angel. Except, her eyes widened with wonder as her hand came across something foreign to the bush. Upon removing it, she saw that it was Stitch's pendant. Lilo glanced closer at it; something was etched into the stone.

"Angel! Come look!" Lilo called, running up to her, and displaying the pendant, pointing out the stone. Angel's eyes narrowed, her face tightened. "Let's go to Jumba." Lilo said.

"Eh." It wasn't long before they ran back to the home, bursting through the door as they made their way to Jumba's room.

"I am being sorry little girl, is no use." Jumba said as he heard them come in. "Computer cannot find-"

"We know where he is." Lilo interrupted, showing him the pendant. Jumba nodded at Lilo and returned to her the pendant. "Did you fix the buggy?" She asked, her words nearly understandable with the haste she applied to her voice.

"As matter of fact I have, is out front, take it." He told her, hurrying her out the door as Angel followed with an eloquent stride down the hallway, out the stairs, and out the door once again. Nani had to dodge out of the way as Lilo and Angel bolted to the car.

"Can you drive?" Lilo asked, assuming the passenger's seat.

"Eh." Angel replied opening the adjacent door. She proceeded to turn the key, when Nani came out of nowhere and slammed her hand on the hood, startling the two inside.

"Lilo, where are you going so quickly?" She asked, leering at her younger sister, then glancing to the driver's seat; the look of disbelief was bold on her face. "What is Stitch's girlfriend doing driving the car? I thought she was evil!"

"Nani! Angel's not evil!" Lilo retorted. "She's just...just..."

"I don't care what she is, it's insane enough that I allow that destructive lunatic fuzz-ball to man the wheel. I'm not about to let his _girlfriend_ drive; does she even _know_ how to drive?" Lilo began to speak up, but Nani began to erratically speak again. "Why _is _she here, anyway? Where's Stitch?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Lilo said calmly, as if she was talking to a psychopath. "Stitch turned up missing this morning, Angel came by to tell him something, we've been searching all day, and now we know where he might be, we just have to go and get him."

"Lilo," Nani started up again, except softer and more sympathetic, "I'm concerned. This is beginning to get very dangerous. I don't think you should be doing this anymore, for your safety."

"But-"

"No, end of story. No more 'adventuring'. You got seriously hurt last time you went on a 'big adventure' and now I'm thinking things over, and things are beginning to get a bit too rough for my little sister."

"But Nani," Lilo began to cry, "we have to find Stitch, he's in trouble."

"And you're going to be in trouble if you go to find him with that pink-"

"Excusing me." Jumba chimed in, standing at the doorway to the home. "Perhaps maybe I can be driving and going along with little girl, so as to be ensuring her safety. I will drive the buggy."

"Ugh..." Nani sighed, losing the will to argue. "Fine, go get Stitch, I don't care, but if Lilo gets hurt again, I'm holding _you_ accountable." She told Jumba.

"Am reassuring you, be watching little girl as if own daughter." Jumba went into the drivers seat while Angel took her seat in the back between the two. Jumba adjusted the mirror and started the buggy. "Where are we to be going?" He asked Lilo.

"The ship." She replied, pointing at the pendant. Jumba nodded and stepped on the pedal. Lilo looked at the stone on the pendant a few times during the drive. On the stone she could tell what happened. She knew Stitch was kidnapped, for on the stone, in his claw marks, he had jaggedly carved one word that explained his disappearance clearly: 'Gantu'.


	3. Suffering

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 3: Suffering

"How is he reacting?"

"As expected. It has taken effect, give it another day and he should be completely under our control."

"Excellent. And I have you to thank, I'm so glad you didn't screw it up."

"Do you honestly think I would let you down?"

"...Maybe."

"By the way, whatever happened to that glitch the computer had? You know ,the one about 625?"

"I'd...rather not talk about that right now..." _"I still can't believe I was knocked out then..."_

"Very well, is no matter. Continue watching our prisoner, just in case he's playing possum."

"Right, doctor."

Lilo jerked forward in her seat as Jumba brought the car to a dime-step stop. The three of them quickly dispersed from the buggy in its concealed location behind thick vegetation, and made their way toward the waterfall, and the jet-black ship.

"The coast is clear." Lilo whispered, coming out of the brush and into the clear. The purple-tinted evening appeared darker to Lilo, as she dawned a pair of shades taken from the glove compartment of the vehicle. Jumba stepped out next, his hand in his pocket, which contained a blaster should things get messy. Angel followed meekly behind; still quite uneasy about the situation she'd gotten herself in.

_"As much as I want him to be here, I hope he isn't. I can't face him, it's too soon...what was I thinking?"_ The distressed girl thought as she tailed Jumba's mass. The dull sound of feet thumping on dirt, and of Jumba's shorts, were all that gave them away if anyone was outside.

Lilo motioned for Jumba and Angel to stand still, as she crept up to the ship's hull and patted her hand against it. Searching for the spot where Stitch had pried it open from a few weeks ago. With luck, she managed to find the grooves of his claw marks, and followed them to a small sized pore; big enough for her hand to get through. Aggressively but silently she pulled the hull door open, and leapt up onto the ramp. The sound of her landing was hampered by her sandels.

Jumba allowed Angel to take lead as he stayed behind for a few moments before proceeding in himself. Inside, the three crept along the walls, under consoles, and out of site to avoid being spotted by any cameras, or other surveillances. Lilo put a hand and head around the corner to survey the clearing before proceeding any farther, and quickly darted herself back as she heard footsteps come by. 625 rounded the corner, as the three intruders hung back against the wall, hoping he wouldn't notice. Their hearts thumped wildly in their chests as they struggled to keep their breathing low and unheard. 625 passed them and took a few more steps, and turned toward the hull door.

"Oh now would you look at this?" He complained; the group felt a spine of panic run through them. They didn't shut the door, a costly mistake. "I completely forgot to shut the door after my bread run. I gotta remember that next time, or ol' fish-face will never let me hear the end of it." In unison, the party let out a shuddering, silent sigh, as 625 walked over to shut the door, not suspecting intruders. But they quickly flinched as he turned around and spotted them hiding underneath the consoles. "Hey! You three!"

Jumba reflexively drew his blaster and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion, hitting 625 square in the jaw; knocking him out, but only after a goofy look took his face before he fell over. Jumba's arm quickly drew back, and he took out from under the console.

"Cover is being blown, must go in or flee."

"We're going in." Lilo decided instantly. Jumba nodded and proceeded first; trigger-finger ready in case something went wrong. The low hum of computers and beeping of data drew tension and sweat across their faces, as they quietly kept their backs to each other to prevent an ambush from Gantu.

"Naga shotsua." Angel whispered. Lilo's eyebrow raised, Angel hadn't spoken at all up until now, excluding their stealth, she seemed troubled. But Lilo quickly dropped the issue for the present, as they slowly made their way to the molecular-transport station. With no sign of Gantu, the group relaxed their shoulders-slightly-and proceeded into the chamber.

"Is nothing here!" Jumba exclaimed. Lilo narrowed her eyes.

"Stitch has to be around here somewhere, or at least something that might tell us where he is."

"I will check computer data and see if I am able to be finding something there. You and 624 should look around for physical evidence."

"Right." Lilo agreed. "C'mon Angel, let's check around." Angel remained quiet as Lilo took her by the wrist and took her along to the outside of the chamber. Lilo once again grew concerned. It was like Angel was too deep in thought; she didn't try to struggle or break away from Lilo's grasp, and followed lazily.

Angel half rummaged, half kept her mind elsewhere. _"What if I say something I don't mean?"_ The two girls found nothing, they'd searched almost the whole area, and not the smallest thing could be found; not even a strand of blue fur. Angel stopped searching for the last few minutes while Lilo continued onward, still lost in thought.

Jumba ticked away swiftly on the keyboard, simultaneously searching through multiple files, applications, and images. Many containing failed captures of experiments and other such data, but every now and then a fragment of a major file would come up that interested Jumba.

"Where are you hiding at?" Jumba coaxed the computer to help his thinking. "I know you are being around somewhere." While Jumba's fingers still blurred across the keyboard, Angel and Lilo came up from behind and stood beside the genius, trying to see what he was so interested in. "Come out, come out...Aha!" Jumba exclaimed; the two girls on either side of him leaned in closer to see what he'd found, but couldn't understand a single bit of it. "Oh no..."

"What?" Lilo asked, her eyes on Jumba, and her face full of worry. "Is this bad?"

"Is being worse then bad, is being-"

"Hatoota." Angel whispered, placing her hand on Jumba's mouth. "625 sirre okuba."

"Ok, ok." Jumba repeated, in a hurry to type in some commands on the computer. "Will download and take to home, explain more late when have researched." While Jumba spoke, a disc popped out of the computer. He seized it in his hand. "Let us for to be making escape."

"Hey, who's there?" 625 shouted. "I know someone's here!"

"Quick, hurry!" Lilo whispered. "We have to get out of here!"

"Is no time...unless..." Jumba looked at the molecular transport platform. "Could be tricky, this I like. Little girl, please for to be getting on transport platform with Angel; will be joining in one minute." Jumba ran to the computer and clicked a few keys, the transport pod opened, and the computer immediately began to speak.

"Transport in 5 seconds..." Jumba ran to the pod as the lid closed, locking the three inside with a tight squeeze. "3..." The shadow of 625 came running around the corner, but just as he came into the room, "1. Transport Executing." As 625 came upon the transporter, a bright flash of light quickly illuminated the room, as the three intruders escaped before he could identify them.

"Gantu." He shouted, running over to the computer and switching on the com. Link. "Gantu, this is 625. Do you copy?"

"What is it." Came Gantu's voice.

"Lilo and two other's were just here, but they esca-"He paused. "I mean...I fended them off..." He said casually. "They won't be coming back again."

"I see. Gantu out." The communication ended. A sour look crossed 625's face.

Stitch breathed heavily. He sat on one knee, regaining his strength to pound on the glass again, an activity he'd been doing as much as he could since he woke again. He lifted himself up, deciding he was ready for another attempt at breaking the barrier. He backed up to one side of the cell, and ran full speed to the opposite end, jumping and clawing at the glass shield. He felt his body give way, as he fell hard onto the metal floor.

_"What's happening to me..." _His voice spoke in his mind; stuttering, quavering, panicking. Again he felt his pulse quicken, a cycle that had happened before was about to repeat itself. He curled up as his heart sprinted inside of him; every artery burned. Each time this occurred, Stitch feared he was about to have an aneurysm.

His lungs heaved as he tried to control himself; he could feel an amazing amount of anger generate inside of him, but had no idea what was causing it, and where it came from. He turned over onto his stomach, and cried with pain as his body burned worse; he felt his hand to the left side of his neck, and yet he didn't feel a degree warmer then normal.

As he lay in his dripping sweat, the fear and panic inundating him, he cried with suffering sadness. He didn't want to feel like how he was; angered and focused. It took all of his strength just to try and suppress the feeling. He could feel something slipping; something that he didn't want to lose; something internal was leaving him. As he panted, small whimpers came from deep within his heart. He knew that soon, that internal feeling would be lost; he was fighting a battle inside that he couldn't win. The whimpers grew louder and more painful as his suffering grew worse. He lay flat on the ground; tears spattered across the floor around him. He slowly gave in to the rage, knowing full well it may change him for good. His eyes closed softly, another tear falling to the ground.

As he opened his eyes, an illusion appeared before him. It was the one thing he desired to see before he succumbed; it was the illusion of his hope. He reached out, and managed to plead two final words to it, before he closed his eyes, and felt his free will slip away in one final tear.

"Lilo...pasha..."


	4. Virus

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 4: Virus

Lilo walked tiredly out of the elevator. Angel was brushing the ruffles out of her fur, and had just flattened the last dry cowlick as the doors opened. Lilo set a brush down on the bedside table, and went into the closet to change.

"Ju traga miga oculeo?" Angel asked timidly, as Lilo came out of the closet in her nightshirt.

"Of course you can stay the night. I asked Nani to make sure, she said that you can stay here until we either find Stitch or he comes home." She replied politely. She was a bit more cheerful now that Jumba claimed he had a lead. Angel and Lilo were anxious to know what he had found, but he locked himself away in his room saying he needed to be absolutely positive what he'd found related to Stitch's disappearance.

Lilo climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her neck; Angel requested for an open window. Lilo didn't mind it that much, but she put socks on to keep her feet from getting cold. Angel sat back, her arms behind her head, as she thought to herself. Lilo pulled out a book about the existence of vampires, and read it with half an ear out for Angel.

"_I hope we find out what happened to him soon, I don't think he was caught by Gantu on accident."_

"I thought the same. I think Gantu captured Stitch on purpose, and maybe Jumba can tell us-"Lilo froze in mid sentence. _"Lilo...pasha..." _Stitch's voice came in her mind, along with a troubled feeling, which she couldn't describe. Her mouth froze in the position of the last sound she had made; her eyes stared as if she'd just seen a ghost fly out the window, but she wasn't concentrating on what she saw.

"_Maybe Jumba can tell us...what?_" Angel asked, an alarmed look over her face. The pause in Lilo's sentence made her wonder what was wrong.

"...I...sorry," Lilo apologized, "I just had a mind numb..."

"_Ok..._" Angel said, rolling her eyes and quickly rotating her finger around her ear.

"Oh shut up!' Lilo laughed, trying to null the strange phenomenon she'd just experienced. "I meant to say maybe he can tell us where Stitch is."

"_Well why didn't you say so?_" Angel mocked. Lilo gave a goofy angry look, making Angel retort by sticking out her tongue. The two laughed a little at their craziness; it was the only thing to laugh about that entire day.

"Well, anyway, I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Daga-tua." Angel bid.

"G'night." Lilo bid back. However, Lilo did not immediately go to sleep, the phenomenon that had occurred was still fresh on her mind. _"Stitch is in trouble. I don't think I was imagining things, I think I really heard his voice asking me to help him. But if I tell Jumba or Angel, they'll just think I'm crazy." _Lilo sighed. The feeling came back again, waking her up, but Stitch's voice didn't come. A chill ran down her back, but she ignored it and fell back to sleep, trying to keep this from effecting her too much.

"Amazing..." Jumba spoke with astonishment. "Simply being amazing..."

"Huh?" Pleakley asked, waking up from his sleep.

"Shush, go back to sleep." Jumba told him.

"I would if you'd get off that thing; that ticking is driving me nuts." He said, clasping the sides of his head.

"Am being sorry, will be done in one minute." Pleakley sighed with relief, and soon fell back asleep, even though Jumba never left the computer at all that night. He ticked away at the keyboard for hours. The night was a second to him; he didn't even realize he'd been up for five hours until he took a break to get some water. But that didn't stop him at all; again he sat at the computer until the sun rose. "Again, I say, this is being a piece of work." Pleakley turned over in his sleep, and Jumba covered his mouth to keep himself from talking any more.

"Don't bother, I'm already awake." The covers spoke to Jumba.

"Heheh...sorry." He apologized, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah, it's alright." Pleakley assured. "I was going to get an early start on cleaning anyway." He spent no time in climbing down from the bunk and walking to the door.

"If you see girls, tell them to come here." Jumba shouted to Pleakley.

"I don't have to," he told him, "they're right here already." Jumba turned in his seat.

"Do you know what you found now? We've been dying to know all morning." Lilo complained.

"Eh." Angel spoke, backing Lilo up.

"As matter of fact, I have. Come here." Jumba got off of his chair and walked over to the door with a remote in his hand. The girls sat in two chairs they pulled out from the desk and sat down as Jumba pulled down a display sheet from the ceiling. "Be paying attention." He told them.

"Right." Lilo said.

"This is what I have found." Jumba pushed the button. From the computer behind the girls, an image was projected onto the sheet. A blueprint to some type of insect-looking creature was displayed. "This is the reason as to why Stitch has disappeared." The girls looked at the blueprint, cocking their heads in confusion.

"How does that make someone leave?" Lilo questioned.

"Am getting to that, let me be explaining." Jumba took a pointer from atop the sheet on the door. "This is robotic life form, with high artificial intelligence. Documents found within the data indicates at some point in time, thousands of these insects were somehow put into 626's bloodstream."

"_What do they do?_"

"Being good question 624." He commented. "These insects provide whomever is injected with it an enormous amount of awareness in the five senses, as well as increased strength, coordination, and amazingly, these robots will repair wounds and illnesses that the infected person may have."

"So then, they're good?"

"Would be, yes, if not for two other functions. These insects will tamper with programming, and produce an infinite amount of Noradrenaline."

"Nora...what?"

"Nor-a-dren-a-line. Is hormone in which when released causes the feeling of anger. From what I am to understand," he clicked the button again, and the projection turned off, "Dr. Hamsterveil created these insects specifically for 626. These insects are literally a computer virus, affecting programming. Stitch is part computer, he is most likely under the control of these robots."

"_But what does it mean?_"

"Means he is puppet; will listen only to Hamsterveil, and is making him very, very angry. But am not sure why Noradrenaline was a key component to their program..."

"We gotta stop this from happening, before it's too late!" Lilo shouted, jumping up out of her seat.

"Little girl may already be too late. Robots inject directly into artery of neck. By now, they are all over Stitch inside. But, I can probably cure him of the virus if we're able to get him back."

"Then let's find him, he has to be somewhere close." Lilo pleaded.

"...Alright." Jumba gave in. "I will search for him one last time, maybe computer just had glitch last time." Jumba sat down and instantly began keying the console, the search started up, and he leaned back to examine the numbers that came up. "523...222...624...625..." Angel and Lilo leaned in closer to see the screen, but nothing happened for minutes; not dot, not blip, no nothing. "Am sorry." Jumba sighed. "Is no use, computer just can't-"A beep sounded off in the computer. Jumba quickly fixated back onto the screen, darting his eyes across the surface. An arrow was on the upper left hand corner, pointing up. Jumba scrolled the screen, the image of earth went down, and in the black area that represented space, a small yellow blip blinked the number 626. "Aha! Computer has found 626!"

"Where?" Both of the girls asked eagerly, pressing their faces onto Jumba's to see the screen better.

"Right there." Jumba muffled. "There is a hyper drive tunnel in that area, computer shows Stitch is on the other side of it." A moment of silent passed as Jumba, Angel, and Lilo all looked at one another, each thinking the same thing on their minds.

"Rescue mission." They all spoke at once, and ran for the door. Jumba was the first to arrive to the ship, opening the door and sprinting inside, Lilo shut the door after Angel strode in before her.

"Fuel canisters at full." Jumba said, going through the preparation for launch routine. Lilo and Angel took the pilot seats next to him as he flipped switches and turned nobs. "Engines one through four fully functional. Gravity stabilizers green; shields green; laser cannon green; oxygen supply green; provisions stocked; steering functional; engine functional..." He looked toward the girls to confirm they were ready for launch. They nodded toward him, giving him the ok. "Three, two, one, _launch!_" Lilo lurched forward as the ship took off from the ground, and sped quickly into the sky. Soon, Stitch would be rescued.


	5. Mayday

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 5: Mayday

"A hyper drive tunnel is basically remains of a large hyper jump. This tunnel is the tear in space that was created, and will stay for long amount of time." Jumba answered to Lilo's question.

"But isn't that a black hole?"

"No, black hole is very dangerous. Hyper drive tunnel his harmless, if something is too large, it won't pass through."

"So then if earth gets caught in it-"

"Nothing will happen." Jumba reassured her, waving his hand flat against the air. "Do not be worrying. If it was major problem, would have told you in first place." Lilo smiled.

"Alright then. When do we get to it?"

"_In about...one minute, thirty seconds._" Angel said, looking at the radar. Lilo looked outside the window anxiously, they had been flying for almost half an hour. A while passed, Lilo kept looking at the radar and watching the seconds tick down.

_"I wonder how Stitch is right now..." _She wandered in her thoughts. _"I can't help but believe he actually cried out to me last night. Like he was suffering, being forced to do something he desperately didn't want to."_ The ETA read thirty seconds. Lilo looked out the front to see the hyper drive tunnel.

It seemed more enormous then she had imagined; a giant swirling vortex. A rift that seemed two dimensional, but was in fact four dimensions, as Jumba explained. It was a straightaway between the universe; a long tunnel that made traveling faster and easier, when used correctly.

Lilo's heart pounded with excitement, it was her first time actually being in a hyper drive. Angel was also a bit ecstatic, she rarely got to see the vast sub-ether dimension, she remembered only a glimpse of it from when she was first made and transported.

"Brace yourselves." Jumba warned, as they inched closer and closer to the now rainbow-colored swirl, randomly placed in the middle of black space. A few seconds after the ETA hit zero, Lilo felt the ship jolt forward. Jumba shut down the thrusters and let the ship drift inward slightly. It seemed to suck them ever so slowly into its void; it reminded Lilo of being inside Pleakley's heart, without the jerking of it pumping.

Outside the hull, the sound of wind rushed past them, the same sound that came when they left earth's atmosphere. When the ship's nose pointed directly at the center of the dome shaped vortex, Jumba pounded the thrusters. The ship then darted full speed; Lilo felt her body slam back hard against the seat. She screamed, but now sound came from her vibrating throat. Angel grasped Lilo's hand on the arm rest to comfort Lilo, thinking she was scared, it being her first time. But Lilo screamed with pure pleasure as the rush of gravity pushed her back. To her, it was like falling through the sky.

She sat staring out the front of the ship as her eyes pushed back slightly in her head, the rainbow gradient that blurred by them with all sorts of assorted colors surrounded them on all sides, a sparkle of light that seemed to stay far off in the distance ahead of them always remained, but flickered every now and then. Lilo's hair began to lift up on its own, as well as her entire body, as the gravity imitated air pressure, forcing Lilo to float no matter what she did. As quickly as it started, the rush of pressure stopped, and Lilo plunged forward hard against the seatbelt, the wind was knocked out of her.

"Ju tegapa?" Angel asked with alarm. Lilo pointed to her lungs, and shook her head, trying to tell Angel she couldn't breath. "Pasha?" Lilo shook her head again. Angel watched as Lilo slowly took in small amounts of air, and gradually grew more calm as she returned to her normal breathing.

"Can we do that again?" Lilo asked Jumba excitedly, as soon as she was able to talk.

"We'll be seeing." Jumba laughed. The three of them quieted down, and sat silently, looking out into the dark emptiness. "Now, will once again search for 626, and hopefully we'll be able to pinpoint location of his being." Jumba said aloud, referring to Stitch. He tapped a few buttons on the ship's computer. Within moments, a holographic blip came up on the windshield, over to their left. Jumba turned the ship to center the dot, a distance estimation came up next to the number, 3,494 yards.

"_We'll be ambushed for sure once we get there._" Angel pointed out. "_Whether we jump by surprise or not, he'll retaliate._"

"Hmm...is good point." Jumba agreed, scratching his chin while thinking. "Perhaps we should be getting prepared for attack. Just as precaution. If something should come up, 624 will be monitoring shields, and little girl will be monitoring radar for flanks." Jumba assigned. Angel and Lilo had to switch seats in order to be close to their consoles.

All three of them began to sweat, anticipating an attack at any moment. 3,107 yards. Jumba dried his palms to get a better grip of the steering. 2,337 yards. Lilo kept her eyes on the radar, almost hypnotically; ready to shout out an ambush if it comes. 1,016 yards. Angel tapped a few buttons; all shields were green. 87 yards. All on edge, all breathing low, listening for other ships.

"Maybe no one is going to be attacking." Jumba said.

"You just jinxed us." Came Lilo's low voice, and almost immediately after, a blaster shot zoomed past their windshield.

"Where are they?" Jumba shouted.

"I don't know, they're not showing up!"

"_Right shield hit._" The ship jerked as a loud crash came to their right. Jumba pulled the steering stick up a bit, releasing the dorsal blaster, and pulled the trigger.

"I'm fighting blind, little girl have they shown up yet?"

"I think I see one!"

"Is it above or below us?"

"It's..." Quickly she grasped the panel the radar rested in and pulled out the glass sphere, to see a three dimensional surrounding of their ship. "Below us at 9:00."

"Be hanging on." Jumba said, thrusting the stick forward, causing the ship's nose to dive. After reorienting himself, he panned the windshield to find the threat; quickly his tunnel vision spotted a glimmer of metal off in the distance. Immediately he aimed the dorsal blaster a bit ahead of its path and fired three rounds, the second one sparked and a flare was seen going upward.

"That is not being all of them. Angel how are shields?"

"_The damaged one has been repaired._"

"Excellent, we're heading back to Stitch. Lilo, these ships are under some kind of stealth, may want to be keeping closer eye on radar."

"Right." She responded, looking at the orb of glowing blue light. Their ship was the red dot in the center, 626's dot was up to their left at about 4:00, and there were not ships in sight.

"Where are they..." Jumba spoke to himself, to help his thinking. He went to Stitch's blip indirectly, zigzagging to avoid being spotted, but he knew that they already knew he was there. It was just a matter of finding out how they were going to attack. They again waited in silence. Jumba didn't want to get too close to the blip, he never flew any less then 40 yards all around.

"Maybe it is safe to go closer." Lilo suggested. "I don't see anything coming up."

"Bah, is what they are waiting for us to be doing, thinking it be safe, then, WHAM! Are having us for dinner."

"_Maybe Lilo is right, maybe it's just-_"

"Oh no..." Lilo said, darting her eyes over the sphere.

"Don't be doing that, just tell me what is problem."

"Jumba, we have to get out of here!" Lilo's voice panicked.

"What are you meaning-"The ship suddenly turned over with force as a barrage of blaster shots impaled their hull. "Aye jinkies!" Jumba hollered as he swiftly pulled the throttle stick to the left, stabilizing the ship.

"_Hull's shields are it half._" Angel said calmly, trying to keep the shaking over her voice under control.

"They're coming at us from all sides!" Lilo shouted, glaring into the radar.

"Be bracing yourselves." Jumba said calmly, seizing the trigger for the dorsal blaster. With a battle cry he fired at every glimmer he saw. However he found a better strategy was to align as many ships as he could with a planet that wasn't far off in the distance, their contrasting color against it made them easy to pick off.

"_Jumba be more careful, the engines can't take much more._"

"Only being a few more left." All three bit their lower lips.

"They're coming at us mostly from behind." Without saying anything Jumba turned the ship upside down, something the ships behind them weren't expecting (as well as Lilo and Angel for that matter.) The ships immediately broke formation and dispersed to the sides, Jumba turned the dorsal blaster to the left and fired, shooting down three or four ships.

"_Shields repaired to three-fourth's._"

"Good work, 624. Lilo where's the largest cluster?"

"6:00 below us." Jumba turned the ship's nose to face the oncoming cluster of metal, shooting down five or six, before the formation brushed past them. Some ships clipped the hull of the ship.

"_Jumba, fall back, the shields are completely down!_"

"Wha-"But it was too late; the ships from behind U-turned and caught Jumba's engines, destabilizing his ship. Lilo screamed, Jumba pulled back on the throttle. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the planet close by, and with the power he had left, he aimed for it. "We're heading towards planet." Jumba shouted over the engine's noise.

"We're gonna crash?" Lilo asked with alarm.

"No." Jumba shouted back, their ship now zooming into the planet's atmosphere. It was bright, and solid. Jumba sighed with relief. _"Good, it is planet much like earth, we'll be able to land here safely..."_ Jumba turned toward the girls. "Not you two anyway." He continued his reply.

"_What do you mean by that?_" Angel asked, quickly realizing what Jumba was going to say. "_You're not really going to, are you?_"

"Be taking care of little girl 624. Do not be worrying, when you land, go to ship, will be waiting for you." With that, he pressed the eject button. A glass shield surrounded the seats that Angel and Lilo were in; Angel pressed her hands against the surface and shook her head, saying he was crazy; Lilo dropped the radar in surprise and backed against the other side.

They both felt the rush of jets underneath the feet, and watched from a distance as they fell to the planet's surface. The ship slowly hurdled at high speeds toward a mesa, flaring and combusting on its way down. Angel closed her eyes as the jets underneath her cut off, and let her fall safely into a forest with Lilo.


	6. Shivering

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 6: Shivering

Angel grunted as her eyes began to open. At first, she thought she was on earth, waking up one morning as she'd always done. But the air smelled different; and the sun that came down on her was much cooler, being far away. Through her groggy memory, she recalled what happened before she landed in the brush of this dense forest. But, she had no way of knowing how long ago that was. The position of the sun in the sky wouldn't be accurate, it was a little farther away then earth's sun, making it seem to go across the sky that much faster.

She heard Lilo's breath somewhere beside her, as she lay on her back staring up at the sky, unable to move out of exhaustion. That was the only sound; no birds were around to chirp; no cicadas to buzz; no waves to crash against the shore; not even a gust of wind to rustle the leaves of the canopy overhead. Through boredom, Angel found the strength to sit up, and get her bearings.

"_Lilo._" She spoke quietly, trying to wake the little girl. She crawled on hands and knees over to her slumbering referred. "_Lilo._" She said again, shaking her companion awake.

"J...Jumba?" Angel shook Lilo again. "Angel..." Lilo said with dissapointment.

"_Glad to see you too._" Angel spoke sarcastically. "_Are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere are you?_"

"No...you?"

"_I'm fine._" Lilo tried to lift herself, obviously too soon, for she had great difficulty. _"Need help?_" Angel asked, holding out a paw. Lilo smiled, and attempted to grasp the helpful hand, but missed.

"Oh ok...you're the one on the left..." Lilo said hazily.

"_You're sure you're ok?_" Angel said with a laugh, as she took the initiative in grasping Lilo's hand to pull her up.

"I will be when the buzzing stops." She replied, making Angel laugh again. Lilo began to chuckle as well; a good laugh was something they both needed right now. "Where are we anyway? Where's the ship? I didn't see it go down..."

"_The ship went down somewhere over that way._" Angel said, pointing in the direction that would be west on earth (according to the sun). "_As for where we are, I'm just as knowledgeable as you on that topic._"

"We're not...stuck here forever...are we?" Lilo asked meekly.

"_I don't know._" Angel replied. "_I really don't._" A small moment of silence came across the two as Lilo gained her composure. Upon landing she slammed on her back, jostling her senses quite a bit, but not permanently. Lilo felt herself returning to normal.

"Let's go." She said, as soon as she only saw one Angel.

"Gaba?" Angel asked rhetorically.

"We're wasting our time here, we have to go to the ship, it's our only option." She spoke explanatorily, as if she had much experience in being marooned on an alien planet, and had it down to a routine procedure.

"_I don't think you should be walking, you're not exactly in the best conditio-_"

"I'm fine." She interrupted, taking a step forward. Obviously she was lying, her knees wobbled horribly as she tried to balance her coordination. Hazily, she took another step forward, losing all control. Angel ran to catch Lilo before she fell face-first on the ground.

"_Lilo you're in no condition to walk a single step, let alone an entire trek. Besides, the sun is about to set, let's worry about shelter for now, and find the ship in the morning._" Lilo didn't respond. Angel set her down to sit next to a shady rock.

"What can I do to help?" Lilo finally asked, just as Angel had turned around. Her eyes were weak and submissive to fatigue as she stared back at her furry companion. Her body weighed heavily, but she still didn't want to feel unusable.

"_If I get attacked by an alien animal, then you can help me out. Otherwise, I don't want you to move any more then you have to._"

"Fine." Lilo gave in.

"_I'm going to get some fire wood, holler if anything comes into this area alive._"

"You got it." Angel turned without a word into the forest, leaving Lilo to sit in the shade of the sun. "You sure know how to worry." She added lowly. Angel heard this as she wandered into the woods, and stopped for a couple of seconds.

_"Why am I acting so worried?"_ She thought with amazement. She shook her head. _"You're not worried."_ She consulted herself. _"You're doing what Stitch would do."_ Still consulting herself, trying to justify the action, which she found amazingly strange for her character, she began to gather firewood. She retrieved a fair amount, keeping a half expectant ear out for Lilo's scream, practically predicting it every few seconds, though she didn't know why. The sky quickly grew purple as the sun went down, Angel's inner clock was struggling to comprehend the concept of the sun being a bit faster then on earth. When she returned to camp, Lilo was standing, stretching her legs.

"I'm feeling much better now." Angel set the firewood down, still not sure if Lilo was telling the truth, or just trying to not feel like a burden. Lilo still had a dizzy pace, but she could definitely walk without falling over. Angel rolled a large log that was near their little camp site and rolled it over to the center of the clearing, to provide a better place for them to sit. She then proceeded to gather rocks, making a fire ring. "You seem to know what you're doing." Lilo spoke positively. "Do you have to do this often when you're out on your own?" Angel stopped after she inserted the last rock of the fire ring, and looked up at Lilo.

"_I...uh..._" Angel lost her words. She couldn't decide whether Lilo was just using her common sense, or whether Lilo knew she actually lived like a nomad. Lilo smiled, half awake, and stood up off the log to get some of the wood. Angel didn't stop her, she seemed to be able to handle her coordination almost fully now. Together, the two managed to start a small fire.

"Guess we should have found something to eat." Lilo groaned, as her stomach viciously growled.

"_I wouldn't trust anything on this planet anyway._" Angel sighed, putting her hands against the warm fire. The night was drawing, and the planets temperature dropped very low. Lilo shivered. "_Is it too cold for you?_"

"A-a-a-a-"Was all she could manage to stutter. Angel quickly put another branch into the fire. Lilo seemed to relax a little as the fire blazed brightly. "T-th-thanks." Angel nodded.

"_I guess we'll have to stay up all night, this air is going to freeze you to death if our fire isn't kept alive._"

"I-I'm not shivering because of the cold." Lilo said.

"_Don't do this again, I don't mind watching out for you, it's not that big of a-_"

"I-it's not t-that." Lilo interrupted impatiently. "It's d-d-different." Angel threw another branch in the fire, Lilo relaxed a little more.

"_What's different?_" She asked curiously.

"Y-you wouldn't believe me, you'd p-probably think I was crazy."

"_What are you talking about? Tell me._" She looked directly into Lilo's shaking eyes. "_Why are you shivering, if it's not the cold then what is it? Are you scared or something?_"

"No," Lilo began, as Angel tossed another branch into the fire, "I-I'm shivering because of S-Stitch."

"_...What do you mean?_" Angel crossed her face oddly, making no sense of what Lilo was talking about.

"Angel...Stitch g-gave in to the robots l-last night. Now...I f-feel like s-something bad is happening to him. He-he's starting to forget about us."

_"...Where am I...?"_

"He seems to be under their control."

_"Who am I...?"_

"He also seems like he's dead..."

_"Am I...dead?"_

"You fool, he's supposed to be like that. He's just waiting for his master to give him an order."

_"Awaiting...orders...? Master...? Am I a pet...?"_

"Well, what do we do now?"

_"Master...tell me what to do...awaiting orders..."_

"It's simple, I give him a command, and he does it, intelligently I might add."

_"So then you're my master...?"_

"What do you mean intelligently?"

_"Why can't I speak...? Why can't I move...? Something...something is holding me...restraining me...but I'm just standing...nothing's around me..."_

"Well, I mean that he follows my orders, without the robotic flaws. He is like a slave, a very obedient slave."

_"...Why can't I see my master...?"_

"Open you're eyes, 626."

_"...I can see...but I don't see my master...unless...she's not my master anymore..." _

"_Weather on this planet is illogical._" Angel grunted with disgust. Lilo merely stared into the fire as the rain and hail outside poured and pounded down around their little cave inside rock. The hailstorm came almost spontaneously; only a thunderclap was their warning. Rain then poured, freezing the two lonely girls even more. They soon found that this planet bits quick and hard, as hail began to pelt them. They were forced to flee with what firewood they could-wet or dry-and sprint for nearly five minutes, until Lilo spotted the cave in the rock formation that they took shelter in at present.

"_Are you feeling ok?_" Angel asked, the reflection of their small fire dully illuminated Lilo's dour expression. She seemed in a trance; the fire reflected off of her eyes as she stared fixated at its brightness; her lips ajar. "_Lilo?_" Another thunderclap sounded off outside.

"Huh?" She quickly asked, coming out of catatonia.

"_I asked if you're feeling ok. Are you still..." _Angel lost the words; she didn't exactly know how to describe Lilo's shivering and babbling other then just a delusion. "_Uh...you know what I mean..._" She gave up, she didn't want to hurt Lilo's feelings in any way.

"I...guess not..." She spoke, unsure of what Angel was referring to. Yet still, she smiled and said: "I'm sorry, I really don't mean to be so expressionless. I'm just tired that's all." Although, Angel could tell that her voice was intimating sadness; despite her now gleeful mood swing. "I just...never stayed up this late..." She yawned, which wasn't a false gesture.

"_You can go to sleep; there's no point in both of us staying up._" Angel said.

"But I don't want you to be bored..." Lilo retorted.

"_Go to sleep._" Angel almost demanded. Lilo looked back at the fire, and smiled again.

"You know..." She spoke, with a low tone. Angel blinked her eyes, not expecting Lilo to say something like she was about to say. "You've changed a lot, since Achie-baba Kino. At first...I thought you'd gone back to being evil again...but I didn't want to say that to Stitch-I couldn't. He probably would have accused me of being jealous...or something." Angel looked at Lilo, oblivious to why Lilo was saying this.

"And then, I saw you-or at least, I thought it was you-you were putting a note inside a tree, at the meadow outside. Then lots of things that I didn't expect happened: Stitch started acting funny, like he knew something bad was going to happen, and that 625 from the future came, and threw him off the spire. Then Chroney sucked 625 away, and nothing made sense until Stitch told me the whole story; after you left." Angel recalled that moment; nearly two weeks ago, her stomach began to feel queasy with embarrassment. "I have a feeling though, that you had something to do with how the future was changed." Angel lost the embarrassment, not understanding what Lilo was talking about.

"And now it's this. Trapped in a cave," Lilo looked outside, the hail, rain and thunder still erupted outside, "with only each other. I don't know what I was thinking, assuming you were evil. I don't know what changed you, but I'm sure glad I was wrong." Lilo continued to look at the fire, only blinking. Angel stared at it as well, silently, her face blushing slightly, though almost unnoticeably by her fur. "You're acting like him a lot, you know. You were a lot harder then the other experiments, but in the end, you turned out good." Again she paused, but only for a moment. "I can't stay awake any longer...I'm sorry, but I think I will fall asleep." And with that she curled up into a fetal position, hugging her knees against her stomach. Her dress was uncomfortably cold and damp, but still, weariness overcame her, and she was asleep within a minute.

Angel sat alone in the silence; listening to Lilo's breathing, and reflecting on what she'd said. The storm outside began to let up, and Angel laid on her back, deep in thought. Thinking about what Lilo had said, her cheeks returning to their normal tint.

_"Are you intending to torture me, Lilo?" _She thought angrily toward herself; tears forming in her eyes. _"I want to say you're right... but everything you're thinking is a lie. If I told you the truth...you'd hate me..." _Angel turned over, facing away from Lilo, crying herself to sleep.


	7. Regroup

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 7: Regroup

It wasn't more then a few hours, until the sun steadily rose up from the ground. Water dripped lightly from the mouth of the cave, slowly ticking away on the hard rock underneath. The wall in the back of the little dugout was lit on the bottom, but only a few inches. There was still no noise of birds, or any other form of life, other then the two lost girls.

"Angel...Angel..." Lilo rocked her companion lying on the ground. Angel's dry tongue hung out of the side of her mouth, her fur was ruffled, and a layer of dried tears crusted her eyes shut. "Angel, wake up." Lilo quietly spoke, letting Angel wake at her own pace.

"Ah..." Angel winced, her body sore from lying in an uncomfortable position for hours. Lilo helped her to a sit, as she rubbed at her eyes until she could open them. Angel smiled, a small sleep was just what she needed; all the bad feelings that she hated were gone.

"Good morning." Lilo chimed. "You sleep like a rock." Angel looked up at her. She was smiling, of course, but this time, it wasn't to mask the sad expression of her face that she had dawned the night before.

"_How long have been sleeping?_" Angel asked groggily, flatting her ears.

"Only a little while. I tried to wake you a few times, the third one was the charm." Angel stretched. "I did walk back to where we were before the storm last night. Our things are still there."

"_Maybe we can find something that will help us find the ship._" Angel said. Lilo nodded. But, at that moment, even if it was just for a short time, both of them felt happy enough that they wished they didn't have to find the ship. Neither of them knew what it was that made them so cheerful, but it made them want to stay in the cave, looking outside at the alien world, for as long as possible. Both of them took a fresh sigh in, the air smelled sweet and lemony. They imagined birds chirping, cicada's chiming, and wind brushing against their faces. And all the more they both yearned to go back home-back to earth.

"Let's go." Lilo said standing.

"_Yeah._" Angel immediately agreed, as if reading Lilo's mind.

"Race you." Lilo challenged, though not really knowing why.

"_What?_"

"Nevermind."

"_No, let's._" Angel finally said; Lilo nodded her head. "_Ready?_" Angel squatted, her right foot behind her.

"Set..." Lilo replied, taking the same stance.

"GO!" They both screamed at the same time, bursting out of the cave like wild animals, kicking up dirt and rocks with their feet. Angel took a quick lead, leaping over rocks and under branches, much like they had done last night. However, last night, Angel had an advantage due to her nocturnal vision, but now, she wasn't expecting what Lilo could do. Surprisingly, Lilo was very agile; Angel had completely underestimated her. Within a few minutes, Lilo took the lead, and kept it until the end of the race.

"Ha! Beetchya!" She hollered as Angel came into view. Angel charged straight for her, an insidious smile beamed across her face. Lilo tried to dodge out of the way, but was too late; Angel tackled her and wrestled her to the ground.

"_Not without a fight you won't!_"

"I can beat Stitch anytime no-problem!" Lilo boasted.

"_Stitch and I are different!_" Angel laughed, as the two wrestled each other to a pin, finally giving up and calling a draw. They sat panting on the ground, under the shade of a small tree, glancing around as they caught their breath. "_Ok...what can help us..._" Angel said aloud, getting up. The dry air rejuvenating her exhaustion.

"I don't know." Lilo shrugged. "Do the ejecting seats have some kind of homing device?"

"_No...I don't think so..._" Angel said, sifting through some things near where Lilo had crashed. "_Never mind!_" Angel hollered.

"Did you find a homing device?" Lilo asked, sprinting over to Angel after she got up.

"_Nope, something better. I thought you dropped this, though._" Angel said curiously, pulled up a sphere, almost as large as her eye.

"What is it?" Lilo asked, as Angel handed to her.

"_The ship's radar. It'll tell us exactly where it is._"

"Awesome! ...How does it work?" She asked, knocking on the glass.

"_Here, I'll do it._" Angel took the sphere from Lilo's hands. "Eicheta chooboosa." She chanted. The sphere whirred like a computer as it started up, ticking and clicking softly like a blender. A few moments later, a fuzzy blip appeared in the center.

"I coulda done that." Lilo said quickly. Angel smiled, sticking out her tongue. "It doesn't seem to be working though..." Angel hit it a couple times, and the blip came in clear and crisp.

"_Stupid thing._" She scolded. "_There we go, I found the ship!_" She exclaimed, pointing at the now clearly visible icon.

"Where is it?" Lilo asked enthusiastically.

"_Hold on, hold on, I have to find where we are to figure the distance._" Angel tapped the ball a few times; the dot in the middle shrank a little each time. "_Ok...here we are...and here's the ship...that makes..._"

"It makes..." Lilo came in, after Angel paused a second.

"_About a mile and a half..._"

"A MILE AND A HALF!" Lilo shouted. "THAT'S LIKE, FOREVER! I don't even know what a mile _is!_"

"_Don't worry about, let's just start now._" Angel said, gripping the sphere under her arm. "_It's not that far, trust me._"

"Well...ok." Lilo said, tilting her head. "There's nothing else around here, is there?"

"_I don't think so, the food provisions are still with the ship. If we start walking now we'll get something to eat sooner or later._"

"Walk? Can't we drive something?" Lilo asked out of desperation.

"_Do _you _see the buggy here?_" Angel asked, gesturing toward the debris that was their escape pods

"...I guess not..." She replied, glancing around to make certain. "Well then, lead the way." Lilo bowed, giving Angel lead.

"_Uh...this way._" Angel pointed, and proceeded to move into the brush. The leaves were damp and water flung everywhere as the two made their way for only a few minutes. The silence of their footsteps was starting to agitate them both a little. Angel's way of occupying herself was to constantly glance at the radar, to make sure they were going in the right direction. Lilo tried admiring the scenery, but it began to get very trite, as trees were common things to see.

Both of them wanted to talk, about anything, but they both looked so convincing, they fooled each other into thinking the other person was actually enjoying the silence. They kept a steady pace; Lilo followed Angel deftly through the brush when it came, and they constantly had to meander around boulders, giant trees, and brush thickenings. Over the past half hour, Lilo had started thinking about Stitch again; it was the only thing she could think of to keep herself from boredom. However, she didn't want to say anything to Angel, figuring that her furry friend wouldn't really take the idle conversation on for more then a few seconds.

"_I wonder how he's feeling now._" Angel spoke, interrupting Lilo's thoughts. Lilo stopped her pace for a split second, and then kept going. She didn't think twice about answering; relieved and a bit surprised that Angel was the one to start up the conversation.

"I hope he's ok..." She responded.

"_I thought you could tell how he felt?_" Angel teased, indirectly referring to the delusional state Lilo seemed to be in the night before.

"...What do you mean?" Lilo asked awkwardly.

"_What do you mean, what do I mean? You were shivering last night, and you said it was because Stitch was forgetting about us._" Angel paused to check the radar again, and then continued on, veering right.

"That really happened? I thought it was a dream..."

"_Dream nothing._" Angel said, sweeping her arm in front of her, "_I had to practically drag you into the cave when the storm hit, you wouldn't budge you were so scared._" Lilo paused for a moment, trying to recall those few minutes they spent tripping through the night.

"I'm sorry." She apologized.

"_It wasn't that big a deal. I was more worried you were going to stay that way. You were going delusional on me._" Angel joked.

"Yeah..." Lilo laughed, scratching her head humbly. But inside, she still felt like she wasn't dreaming, like it was real. Like somehow, she _was_ feeling how Stitch was feeling, and hearing what he was hearing. _"Lilo...pasha..."_ She sounded Stitch's voice in her mind while walking. It was too vivid to be a dream, to distinct to be a delusion; she heard it as distinctly as if he was right next to her. And the way she felt when she first heard it, was like she had lost something intangible.

"_Do you...think we can turn him back to normal?_" Angel asked, after Lilo remained silent for a while. Lilo snapped out of her thinking again.

"It will probably take a while, Jumba said it was a computer virus, so he'd probably have to be vaccinated, or something." Walking was starting to tire Lilo, the soles of her feet were beginning to ache and bruise.

"_I don't want to think about what Hamsterveil will do with Stitch. If anything, he's completely under that mad gerbil's control." _Angel spoke quietly, her voice full of dread.

"What can we do though?" Lilo asked, as they came to a rocky path that lead up. Angel took to it, and Lilo followed.

"_I don't know." _Angel glanced at the radar again; the ship was close now. She glanced off in the foggy distance, her eyes scanning the plateau. "_Maybe we can-_"

"Look!" Lilo exclaimed, pointing off into the distance. "The ship! It's there!"

"_With luck, Jumba's there too."_ Angel hoped, dropping the thought she had before.

"He's there, trust me, c'mon." Lilo rushed ahead, Angel darted after. The ship slowly grew larger as they neared it. Angel panted heavily; the humidity suddenly skyrocketed. Angel slowed down behind Lilo to a staggering stop, as they approached the vessel. It was silent-too silent-which the girls instantly pointed out as alarming. "Jumba?" Lilo called. There was no answer, except for the crumbling of a few rocks on the ground. "Jumba?" She hollered louder, as Angel glanced around. The air still remained silent. "Jumba!" Lilo shouted at the top of her lungs, the call echoing around them. Lilo's gloom returned with the fade of her echoing voice. "Jumba's not here..." She spoke softly, slumping to the ground, on the verge of tears. "We came all this way...and Jumba's-"

"Being right here." Came his voice, as he popped up out of the top of the ship with a hammer over his shoulder.

"_Jumba!_" Angel exclaimed, silently relieved that he was just 'hiding' from them.

"Little girl and 624 made it back. I knew you would." He laughed, hopping off and returning the hug that Lilo gave him.

"Jumba...I thought you were-"

"Honestly." He interrupted Lilo. "I don't show up and you automatically are assuming the worst. Is very hard to hear little girl's voice through hull of ship, am being sorry I have worried you." He apologized, pointing to the ship.

"Well whatever the reason, you kept us waiting long enough." She said, in a mock-impatient tone, tapping her foot on the ground.

"_How is the ship? Are we able to fix it?_" Angel chimed in, hiding her emotions completely. She wanted to get off the planet as quickly as possible, but didn't want to sound too pushy.

"Not exactly...I have been working all of the night, and up until you showed up, but until I find radar, ship refuses to function." He put his hands up to his chest as he shrugged his shoulders, and glanced down as something fell into them. "Wha...?" He peered with wonder at the radar that he had caught, and then back to Angel, who waved at him sweetly. "624 you are miracle worker!" He proclaimed, laughing at the irony, and opened up the ship's doors. The three of them climbed in, and swiftly took their places for take off.


	8. Incursion

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 8: Incursion

"Dr. Hamsterveil, 625 has alerted me another experiment is on the loose. Should I go back to catch it?" Gantu spoke, coming into the control room. Hamsterveil was drumming his fingers on the console as he peered into the monitor.

"Another experiment you say? Well, I suppose you could. But, before you go, tell 626 to be ready for intruders." He said, without turning toward Gantu.

"Intruders? What intruders?" Gantu tried to see the screen that Hamsterveil was transfixed upon.

"You're battalion did not eliminate the threat," He spoke, swiveling his chair up to the whale. "So I am going to have our new friend take care of it for us." He replied, rubbing his hands together.

"...Of course sir." Gantu growled. He walked out of the room, the door automatically closing behind him, and turned the corner to where Stitch was being held. "Abomination." Gantu called, after punching in the code to open the door. It was a fairly large sized room, bare walls, and only a small row of lights on the ceiling. Iron weights, dumbbells, and other weight machines were clustered throughout. "Where are you?" Gantu yelled.

"Agata!" Stitch cried, launching onto Gantu's back and digging his claws into his shirt.

"Hey!" Gantu pulled his blaster and shot Stitch off of him, grabbing the experiment into a choke in midair. "Now you listen to me, trog. The only reason I'm having a scrap of patience with you whatsoever is because Hamsterveil takes to your liking. Speaking of which, you are to report to the doctor immediately, do you understand?"

"Eh, guatapa."

"Why you!" Gantu squeezed, but Stitch was too strong for him. Stitch managed to escape Gantu and wander the corner to Hamsterveil. Gantu leered, rubbing his hand, and made his way to the transporter to go back to earth.

"Be ready, they may or may not be knowing we are counterattacking." Jumba cautioned lowly.

"Looks pretty quiet..." Lilo observed.

"_Too quiet._" Said Angel, peering into the radar.

"Why are we whispering?" Lilo asked. Angel and Jumba both looked at her for ruining the mood, she shrugged.

"Found it." Jumba stated, pointing at the computer and pressing a button.

"Found what?"

"Where 626 is being." A blip showed up on the windshield like before.

"_The radar shows that there's some sort of asteroid there, but it's perfectly round._" Angel said, glancing at the spherical radar.

"It must be station with an artificial atmosphere." Jumba concluded. "Looks like Hamsterveil was getting tired of old-fashioned prison quarters. Be holding on." Jumba warned, as he pushed the acceleration lever forward. The ship slowly eased faster, making little noise as they crept toward the space station. Within forty yards, Jumba pulled the lever back, taking the ship to a very slow crawl.

"_Everything is calm so far._" Angel said. But they knew that at any moment, an ambush was waiting for them. No more then thirty seconds passed, then did Jumba spot a ship far off in the distance.

"I knew it. Not this time!" He shouted, taking hold of the dorsal blaster's trigger, and firing at the ship. One shot, and it twirled into the blackness of space. For a second, all was quiet, Jumba glanced his eyes right and left, beads of tension forming on his brow. "Why are they not ambushing..." A moment later, red lights flickered all about, illuminating the black metal station-nearly the size of the moon.

"I think you made them mad." Lilo said innocently. A swarm of sentinels immediately dispersed from the station; Jumba pushed the throttle hard, making the ship dive full-speed toward their destination.

"_What are you doing?_"

"624, little girl, I'll hold them off. You go down to airlock and jump out as I pass." Jumba ordered quickly, his voice sounding urgent.

"Are you _crazy!_" Lilo shouted erratically, throwing her arms into the air.

"Don't be worrying; there is artificial atmosphere. You will be ok." Jumba explained as a barrage of lasers passed their ship.

"But what about you?" Lilo retorted over the noise.

"_I'm with Lilo on this one._" Angel chimed in. "_Aren't you worried you'll get shot down again?_"

"I am fully prepared for this. I've improved shields and maneuvering capabilities of ship multiple times over, thanks to Grabalicite ore found on planet." Angel still glanced at him with worrying eyes, as their ship continued to dive toward the space station. "You are missing opportunity for drop-off. I will be back to pick you up after you have gotten 626, now go." He ordered, Angel glanced back at Lilo, who shrugged.

"_Fine. Don't let us down._"

"I won't." Angel took Lilo's wrist and led her down the ship; past the passenger seats and toward the back, where the shaft to the airlock led. "Being good luck with you both." Jumba whispered under his breath.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lilo questioned.

"_We have no choice, you and I will go in and get Stitch, and then Jumba will rendezvous._" Angel explained, grabbing two blasters and twisting the valve to open the airlock. The ship rattled, and Lilo caught Angel before she fell.

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about just jumping off the ship!" Lilo shouted, as the burst of wind came from the open door. "We'll get crushed!"

"_No we won't, I've done this before a long time ago. If you're scared, just hold on._" Angel said calmly, holding out her hand. Her fur wafted violently, as did her ears and tentacles, from the wind gusting through the airlock. Lilo felt awkward, the plan they had discussed not ten minutes ago when they left the planet seemed foolproof, why where they abandoning it now? Regardless, there was not time. Lilo hesitantly gripped Angel's paw, and smiled. Angel smiled back.

"_Hang on._" The ship lurched downward as it neared a dock, plunging to give them a close landing. Angel counted aloud. "_Three...two...one..._" Without warning, she jumped off as the ship came close enough to the landing zone. Lilo screamed loudly as she felt her weight lurched forward, thinking this was insane; jumping out of the ship. But something felt different. It felt like they were drifting rather then falling.

"This is _weird!_" Lilo shouted excitedly, as the wind ruffled her hair. She moved onto Angel's back, and gripped onto her shoulders as the ship above them started to go upward, the sound of the engines getting more severe.

"_There's low gravity here, so it's pretty much going to be a soft landing. After we go inside, it'll feel like normal._" Angel explained back. Her limbs were fanned out, to catch the wind that generated from Jumba's ship, and lead them to a nice, somewhat soft, landing.

"Just like in the movies!" Lilo exclaimed with enthusiasm. Angel put her finger to her lips.

"_Shush, we have to be silent._" Lilo nodded. Angel offered Lilo a blaster.

"I'm not supposed to play with those..." Angel lifted an eyebrow, and took the blaster back.

"_Sorry, didn't know._" She motioned with her other hand for Lilo to follow silently, as they made their way into the hangar. Lilo's mind buzzed with the noise of the alarm as she followed Angel past the large open doors. The hangar was vast, almost three football stadiums big. It smelled of oil, gasoline, burnt metal, and musty water. An echoing clank sounded off from far to their right. Angel grasped Lilo's wrist and took her to a concealed part of the hangar.

"What?" Lilo whispered.

"_Sentinels_." Angel responded, readying a blaster. The hum of the sentinel's engine steadily grew louder as it neared the two invaders, looking for signs of their presence. Hamsterveil peered into the computer monitor, switching the sentinel to his manual control. He steadily moved it forward, but was surprised when he heard Angel scream with rage as she lunged out from behind a small wall, firing three times, hitting the sentinel. With the final shot, the feed was lost.

"Wow..." Lilo said lowly with amazement. "You're really tense aren't you?"

"_Maybe just a little..._" Angel confessed, slightly panting. "_Let's go._" Angel's nails ticked quietly on the floor, followed by the bare-footed thumps of Lilo's pace. The metal was cold to Lilo, but she didn't care; this was actually the first time she'd noticed her sandals were missing. Angel skidded swiftly around the next bend as they entered the hallway past the hanger, firing four more shots at three sentinels that barred their path. "_Hamsterveil should know who he's dealing with._" She said, kicking a monitor that was still alive.

"Oh but I do, my Angel." Hamsterveil sneered. "But it is really _you _who needs to be worried about who you're going to be dealing with."

"Hamsterveil." Stitch said sternly, arriving into the room, the door shutting behind him. Hamsterveil turned immediately. "Ju taba leguita miga?"

"Ah, 626. It has come to my attention that there are some intruders that need to be dealt with. Will you see to it that they are...taken care of?" He spoke, scratching his chin for words.

"Eh." Stitch replied, blinking.

"Good, take a blaster if you wish." Hamsterveil pressed a button on his console, making a rack with four blasters pop out near Stitch. Stitch looked at the blasters, and immediately took to showering the weapons with mucus, rejecting the offer.

"_These things are starting to get on my nerves!_" Angel hollered, firing round after round, shooting down sentinel after sentinel, while Lilo stood behind her, ready to run if one started shooting at them. Lilo sensed that Angel was growing impatient, and angry. Hamsterveil was certainly finding the exact way to get at her. She was a bit scared that Angel would completely lose it, she sounded hysterically enraged already.

_"Where is he?"_ Lilo thought. _"Will he come? What will he do?"_ Angel ceased her firing spree and waited a moment to decide where to go. "Angel?" Lilo asked, stepping up from her cover.

"_What?_" Angel asked, trying not to sound angry toward Lilo.

"Do you think...we'll have to fight Stitch...when we see him?" She asked almost as if she was embarrassed to say it. Angel's angry eyes relaxed as she tossed her blaster to the floor and grasped the other one.

"_As much as I hope not...I think we'll have to. But...I know I can fight him, because I'm not fighting _him_. Or at least, that's what I'm trying to make myself think...if I hold back, he might hurt you._" She responded, looking worriedly into Lilo's eyes.

"What makes you think he'll hurt me-"

"_He won't. I won't let him._" She said determinately. "_C'mon, let's go, I can smell him, he's close._" Angel led the way; down a hall, a couple turns, Lilo wasn't really paying attention. Her mind drifted away from where she was; she felt detached from the present, as her feet followed Angel.

_"But what if we don't have to fight him?"_ She thought, as she slowed her pace, but kept Angel in sight.. _"What if we can change him back, without anyone getting hurt?"_ Angel stopped abruptly; Lilo stumbled, but caught herself, not wanting Angel to have to help her up off the ground if she fell.

"_He's coming..._" Angel said. "_I can hear him._" Lilo listened. She could hear him too, somewhere off in the distance; the very calm, very relaxed, but very menacing pace of his nails, clicking against the metal floor. They're surroundings were dim, and she couldn't see beyond Angel's silhouette. "_Remember Lilo, he's not Stitch, so do don't do anything foolish._"

A light above the door a few yards in front of them turned on as the door slowly opened. From the floor, as the door opened, Stitch was revealed from foot to head, in the shadow of the dull green light. He stepped through, a green tint barely illuminated his far as he casually strode to the right, walking toward a panel. He opened it, and punched a code. Both doors slammed shut almost immediately, and a large, bright light flickered on overhead. Lilo gasped as Stitch was now revealed from his shadowy guise.

"_No..._" Angel winced, not wanting to look at what she saw. The right side of Stitch's neck was bare of fur, as if he ripped at it violently; his arms balled into stern fists, his claws shimmered slightly; his muscles pulsated with the beat of his heart, as the robots could barely be seen moving inside of him; his breathing was slow and calm, yet vile and empty. But most of all, his eyes no longer shined with kindness and love; they were dull, hateful, and cold.


	9. Pasha

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 9: Pasha

"Bah! You are wanting a piece of Jumba eh?" Jumba sneered cockily at the oncoming sentinels. "Well, be taking that!" He fired precisely, hitting three of the seven clustered in front of him. They dispersed and spread around his ship. "Oh...thinking you're smart now aren't you?" He spoke, a sly tone in his voice. The dorsal blaster turned and fired on two of the remaining sentinels, the other two fired a laser at the ship.

"You think puny laser can penetrate shields?" Jumba laughed, and immediately destroyed the remnants. "That was so easy I forgot to...oh..." His eyes widened as he saw a few more sentinels off in the distance, followed by another barrage of them. Even more came, nearly forty of them from one direction. "Should not be opening big fat mouth; should be eating words." He muttered, launching the ship forward, charging at the fleet. "I'm just hoping 624 and little girl are having better luck then I."

Stitch cracked his knuckles, and then moved on to popping his neck. His mouth parted, revealing a very confident and barbaric smile. His eyes blinked twice as he glanced from the Lilo to Angel, observing his opponents.

Lilo could only look at her friend in disdain. He was obviously taunting them. It wasn't getting to her, but it sure was getting to Angel. Angel hid her bared teeth well under her lips; she didn't want to show any sign of rage to Stitch. That's what he wanted to see. Angel stepped in front of Lilo, blocking her from any frontal attack Stitch might do, and calmly, but hesitantly, lifted the blaster. Lilo flinched.

"Angel, what are you doing?" She questioned immediately as the gun aligned with Angel's aim. "You're not going to...shoot him, are you?"

"_...That's his decision. It looks like he wants to fight dirty, so I'm keeping my guard up._"

"But you can't _shoot_ him!" Lilo yelled, grabbing onto Angel's arm.

"_Lilo, what are you doing? Stop-_"Angel heard Stitch's voice, he was charging at them, she could hear his footsteps pounding on the metal floor. Swiftly, Angel whipped free of Lilo's grasp, and fired a shot at Stitch. Lilo screamed, Stitch caught the bullet and spun around, shifting its inertia back toward the two girls. Lilo tackled Angel, the bullet dodging just by her ear, as it ruffled her black hair.

As Angel hit the ground, the blaster left her grasp and skidded across the floor, Stitch rushed by and seized the blaster in one motion, ran a bit farther away, and stopped a few feet from the girls. Lilo and Angel got to their feet, and froze as they saw Stitch with the blaster. Slowly, he lifted it to his eye, aiming it at Angel. She tensed her legs; ready to leap if he fired, but he didn't, he shifted the barrel toward Lilo. Angel growled.

_"Don't do it..." _Lilo thought, unable to move. _"Please don't do it..."_

"Hmph." He grunted, as he lowered the gun, and took out the cartridge, which he smashed immediately afterward, as if to say he didn't need the blaster. Lilo relaxed, heaving a sigh and dropping her shoulders. Angel screamed as she charged toward Stitch, extending her claws. "Chikata."

"Niga traba!" She hollered, sweeping a slash past him. He dodged fluidly; ducking his head just enough and yet not too much. She struck again, with the same result. One strike after another, he dodged them like it was nothing. A shiver came down Lilo's back, she wasn't expecting Angel to do _this_; she wasn't expecting anything like this at all. Angel was acting like she was trying to _kill _him, not rescue him.

"Ju gabra koita." Stitch spoke tauntingly.

"Miga lootapa!" Angel's voice echoed across the room. Stitch was still dodging her frantic attack with a smug smile on his face. Eventually, he backed up against the wall, and as it seemed like she was about to get a hit on him, he caught her arm with one hand. Another and caught the other arm, and deftly Stitch turned around, reversing their positions, and slamming Angel against the wall. Her eyes widened with fear as he leered at her with a devious smile.

"Egads, how many of these things is he having?" Jumba asked with amazement, as fleet after fleet of sentinels seemed to come infinitely toward him. His blaster had never stopped for more then a few seconds at a time before another ship was in his sights. "Am seeing why even 626 is having trouble fending off bogies from inside ship." He pulled up, looping around the sphere again. "Speaking of 626, I wonder what is taking girls so long to apprehend him..." Jumba reoriented the ship, and shot a few more sentinels down.

"Is really starting to wear thin on patience." He muttered at the annoyance. He fired more shots at a retreating cluster, only knocking one of them out. He noticed that more clusters were retreating, eventually all of them fled. Jumba's eyes narrowed. He knew something was going to happen, they were drawing back to regroup. He peered out of the windshield toward a glint in the distance; something was coming toward him. Glancing at the radar, an expression of disbelief and gloom came over his face. "Oh boy...is not being my kind of day..." He seized hold of the steering stick. Frantically trying to retreat as the giant battleship before him fired a shot, rattling his ship violently.

"That is being it...you are wanting a piece of Jumba?" He screamed loudly, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he gripped the dorsal blaster's stick. "You've got it!" He declared, rushing toward his massive opponent, firing a barrage of bullets.

"Stop it Stitch, you're hurting her!" Lilo pleaded, as small whimpers of pain came from Angel. Stitch glanced back, Lilo froze her pace again as he did. His cold stare seemed to nullify her, disabling her ability to move. Without warning, he threw Angel at her. Lilo stepped back, and instinctively caught Angel, stumbling backward and falling down. Angel panted; she tried to get up out of Lilo's hold.

"_Let me go._" She demanded, trying to free her arms. But Lilo had her locked by the torso like a teddy bear.

"No." Lilo said lowly, almost sadly. Angel slowed her frantic movements as Lilo stood to her feet, and helped Angel to hers. Angel turned to face Lilo, who now dawned the same sad expression she had the night before in the cave. "This isn't working, fighting him won't do anything." Lilo had to hold Angel up to keep her from falling. Angel held her throbbing arm.

"_There's no other way, I have to-_"

"There's always another way." Lilo interrupted. "We gotta find a way to get through to Stitch, we have to find a way to change him back _now_. If we don't you'll-"

"_Lilo, watch out!_" Angel struggled to knock Lilo out of the way, but she was too slow. Stitch took Angel and threw her to the ground. Lilo backed away, but Stitch had his cold, dark eyes set on her. With two bounds he was in front of her, she froze again in fear, as his claw came up from the side. Her head turned, attempting to dodge the slash, but she wasn't quick enough. Four red marks crossed her left cheek as she stumbled to the ground again.

Stitch roared, readying another swipe. He leaned back, savoring the look in Lilo's eye; the fearful stare she gave him, as he was about to slash at her again. The look that prey gives to its predator, a stare of sadness with a desperate and silent cry for mercy. Stitch could see the shock and hopelessness reflected off of her quivering pupil, as he tensed his arm and began to strike down.

And then he stopped. Lilo panted quickly, her left eye staring at him, a tear made its way out and dripped quickly down her cheek. Stitch's tense claw slowly relaxed, and he began to let his arm down. He stared wonderingly; suddenly the fear that was in her eyes that he savored so much, started to scare him. He felt the same feeling inside of him again; the feeling like something was missing, something that made him happy; something that he wanted back.

Lilo's quick panting slowed to deep breaths as she lay on the ground, unable to move, staring back up at Stitch, relieved that he had stopped. She was still shocked, and scared at what had happened to Stitch. But, as she saw him lower his claw, and relax his body, she began to relax as well. To her surprise, his cold, dull eyes-at that moment-gave off a small shine. For a second she thought she was just seeing things, but soon she realized something inside of Stitch was turning back to normal. Stitch had recognized her, and knew she was someone he loved.

"Stitch..." She whispered, as he reached his paw out to her, bending down over her, and peering into her eye. He reached for the tear that was falling down the back of her neck, trying to understand why he couldn't bring himself to harm her.

"_Stay away from her!_" Angel yelled with rage. Lilo saw Stitch fly to her right, and Angel took his place. She had side kicked him, sending him hurling to the adjacent wall. Lilo lifted her head off of the cold metal floor, and glanced into his eyes. The shine had faded, and they were once again dark and hateful. Angel brought herself to her feet, struggling to stand.

"Angel...wait." Lilo muttered, trying to get up. Angel braced herself for Stitch's rebound, and caught his foot, twirling him to the other direction, and slamming him into the wall. She began to chase after him. "Wait Angel!" Lilo shouted, Angel stopped her pace and looked back. "He's still there. He was about to hurt me, but then he stopped. He's still inside, you have to trust me!" Angel looked back to see Stitch running at her.

"_How do you suggest we do this?_" She grunted, catching Stitch by the wrists, immobilizing him for the time. "_What did we do in the first place?_"

"Do something that will make him remember you, something that only you can do."

_"Something that only I can do? Lilo...this is crazy." _Angel told herself. _"...But...I'll give it a shot._" Angel took a breath in, relaxing on Stitch, giving him a bit of room to move his hands around with. "Acuto chuto..." Angel began, "egata nomuta." Stitch began to relax; Angel felt his fists go limp as she continued to sing. "Naga-toe nala, esuto taduho." Angel opened her eyes; Stitch stared back at her, motionless. Silence overcame the room, as Stitch and Angel remained motionless; still holding onto each other's wrists. Lilo shifted, to get a better angle at what was happening. "_Did it work?_"

Stitch sniffed in, answering Angel's question. Angel escaped from his hands before he could grip down harder, and ran a short distance, trying to regain stamina for another attack. She panted heavily as she turned to face him, gripping her paws into fists with desperation. Stitch came at her, taking his time, giving her the chance to get away from him, but she was too weak to move.

"_It didn't work, Lilo..." _She spoke softly, closing her eyes, her voice quavering. "_I can't do it._" The tone of doubt was strong in her words, as Stitch calmly stepped closer to her. She looked up at him as he stopped in front of her. Her eyes bolted with terror, and a wave of fear crossed her body as Stitch gripped his hands around her neck, and lifted her into the air.

Angel coughed, tugging at his arms trying to break herself free, but he was too strong. Soon, all will to resist Stitch's hands left her mind, as her arms dropped and her eyes closed, the blood in her neck felt heavy as her arteries pounded with her pulse. _"I just hope Lilo gets away..."_ She could feel Stitch's grip clamp tighter around her neck with each passing second, and just when she thought it was all going to be over, a peaceful sound came to her ears.

"Alo...ha...hoy..." Angel opened her eyes, as Stitch's grip immediately let loose, letting her drop to the floor, gasping for air. "Aloha hoy." Lilo's voice hit their ears, as she continued to sing a song Angel had never heard before. Stitch squinted in her blurry vision, glaring into her eyes for a second, before turning his head toward Lilo, still lying on the floor. Angel saw something inside of Stitch change. Something in his posture, and in his eyes, seemed to come back to him. His anger subsided, and his muscles relaxed, as he turned warily toward Lilo, and took a step forward.

Angel couldn't move, she lay on her back watching Stitch slowly walk toward Lilo; except to her, they were upside down. He seemed drawn toward Lilo by impulse, as he tediously made his way to her. His nails clicked lightly against the metal floor, at an even but cowardice pace.

Lilo tried to stand up as he stopped by her side, but her back was still sore from the fall. She flinched as he meekly offered her his hand to help her up. She hesitated, staring up at his expressionless face, but took his paw anyway, and stumbled as he lifted her to her feet. She didn't stand for long, before she had to put both hands on Stitch's shoulders, and lean against him for support. She drew back, and looked into his eyes after he caught her. She smiled, but he tried to look beyond her, trying not to look at her face. Lilo wrapped her arms around Stitch's neck, ensnaring him into a hug.

"Lilo came..." He purred, meekly returning the embrace. "Even though Stitch...is evil..."

"You're not evil Stitch." She retorted softly. "You're just under Hamsterveil's control."

"Is no excuse." He replied, scolding himself. He closed his eyes with shame. "Stitch _still_ under Hamsterveil's control."

"How can you be?" She asked hastily "Aren't you back to normal yet?"

"Stitch wants to be." He whimpered, tears of sorrow forming in his eyes. "But Stitch isn't strong enough to fight it off." His tear fell onto Lilo's shoulder.

"You don't have to do it alone." She replied, calmly rubbing his back.

"Lilo...will help?" He asked softly.

"Of course I will." She replied, lifting an arm to stroke the fur behind his ears, calming him down a little.

"But...what if Stitch hurts Lilo again?" He countered, opening his eyes.

"No matter what happens," She replied, gripping her arms around him tighter, "I won't let go." Stitch blinked, not wanting to let the robots take control of his mind again, for the threat that he wouldn't return back to normal. In order to fight them successfully, he'd have to allow them to take full control of his body, which might end up backfiring, and becoming permanent; which he now feared above all else. "Ok?" She asked, telling him she was willing to take the risk.

"Ok..." He replied unsurely, closing his eyes. Angel watched with wonder, not understanding what was going on. She kept her thoughts at bay, as Stitch's eyes opened, the shine was gone again; he had let himself be taken control of again. He growled viscously, trying to break free of Lilo. But she moved her arms across his shoulders, immobilizing them. He took his claw and moved it slowly to her back.

"Naga!" He spoke to himself; resisting the robot's control. He tried to pull the claw away, his arm quivered tensely, but still steadily moving closer. "Naga, Naggara!" He shouted again, demandingly. He managed to pull his arm away, and now was trying harder to escape from Lilo. "Miga...no...legweesta!" He shouted slowly, writhing and struggling as hard as he could, but still not able to break free from Lilo's arms. Eventually, his body went limp from exhaustion, and he opened his eyes. Stitch grinned, wrapping his arms back around Lilo, as she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Thanks." He spoke, returning back to normal.

"You're back!" She exclaimed softly, embracing him tightly again.

"Eh." He replied, closing his eyes peacefully. A tear left Angel's eyes, and dripped onto the floor. Ger smile parted with disbelief. _"She did it..."_ Angel thought to herself skeptically. _"I don't believe it..."_ Angel found herself turning onto her stomach, and up into a sitting position. A silence of happiness came over them. Exhausted, panting, and glad the tension was over, they all relaxed, but were not given a very long time.

"626!" The silence was disturbed abruptly, as the door burst open. Hamsterveil stepped into the room. "What are you waiting for you incompetent fool?" Lilo felt Stitch's arms tense with anger at the sound of the hamster's voice. "Get rid of these two pests, _now_!"

"No..." Lilo pleaded softly, reading Stitch's mind. "Don't do it, please." The robots inside of Stitch seemed to take command again, but this time for his purpose. Stitch's hands clenched the sleeves of Lilo's dress, his claws ripping through the fabric.

"Lilo...stop Stitch..." He quickly begged, before he tore away from Lilo, a bit of her sleeve stuck to his claw. With a hiss he leapt toward Hamsterveil as the rodent screamed and tried to run, but Stitch was too quick. Pinned down by the neck, Hamsterveil watched in horror as Stitch raised his claw, and thrust it toward his face.

"Stop Stitch!" Angel and Lilo both yelled, and just before his claw reached Hamsterveil's eye, Stitch haulted. He looked coldly into Hamsterveil's face; the rodent's frozen expression of shock and horror made Stitch relax his hand with realization..

"_What am I doing?"_ Stitch asked himself, looking at the small piece of Lilo's sleeve that seemed to cling on to his hand. _"Is that how I've been? Angry and cold-hearted?"_

"You should never have disobeyed me, 626." Hamsterveil scolded, his expression returning to normal, and the color returning to his fur. "Kaika Narata." He spoke, commandingly. Stitch peered back at the evil hamster quickly with surprise, before he felt a surge of pain rush through his body.

"Ah!" Stitch screamed. Electricity surrounded his body, and his insides burned. His vision blackened as Hamsterveil kicked him off, sending him floating through the air, and landing hard on the ground.

"_Hamsterveil!_" Angel screamed with rage, as her referred quickly darted out the closing door. Angel slammed against it, pounding on it as hard as she could, and eventually starting to swipe at the door with her claws. Lilo walked over to Stitch's body, and lifted him over her shoulder, then made her way to Angel.

"Angel." Lilo spoke, putting an arm on her shoulder. Angel stopped immediately, the irritating noise of her claws scratching at the metal stopped along with her. Placing her palms against the door, Angel glared beyond it with a burning desire for vengeance. "Come on, let's get out of here." Lilo implored.

"_But Stitch was electrocuted. He could be-_"

"He's fine, just sleeping. I can feel him breathing." Lilo interrupted calmly, her voice sounding tired. "Can we go now? Please?" Angel looked back, following Lilo's arm up to her convincing stare. Finally, Angel nodded, and turned to follow Lilo back outside to the ship.


	10. Angel's Decision

Peace

C/by: Kenjaje

Chapter 10: Angel's Decision

"Little girl, 624, be hurrying!" Jumba called from the ship as his referred entered the far end of the hanger. Lilo sprinted hazily ahead of Angel, lugging Stitch over her shoulder and meandering to and froe every few steps. They had done nothing but run for three minutes, and Lilo was beginning to grow weary. Her breathing grew rasp, as she tried to keep balanced.

"_Lilo!_" Angel yelled with concern, as the ground suddenly roared in a tremor, knocking her over. Lilo fell onto her stomach, but reflexively pushed herself up with her free hand, Stitch still tossed onto her back. Her arm quivered violently under the strain of his weight, as she struggled vainly to lift herself. Angel scurried over to help her up. "_Do you want me to take Stitch?_" She asked kindly, after seeing Lilo's tired, blank expression.

"Sure..." Lilo whispered, shifting the unconscious mass off of her shoulder. Angel took hold of him, and lifted Lilo to her feet with her other paw. Behind them, a fleet of sentinels had gathered, which had not been brought to their attention until one fired a shot at them.

"_Run!_" Angel yelled without looking back, pulling the dazed Lilo behind her.

"Being sorry, but having to launch off now, little girl and 624 must jump into airlock!" Jumba shouted over the roar of the accelerating engine. Angel crouched down, sprinting her legs as fast as she could go, while utilizing Stitch's weight by holding onto his hands over her shoulders. She leaned forward and leapt into the air as soon as she felt the gravity weaken, her stomach lurched with shift in weight. Slowly she drifted toward the ship, her heart rate settled as she felt the heat of danger ware thin, until she glanced back to see that Lilo hadn't jumped yet. Angel turned herself around, and cupped a hand to her mouth.

"_Lilo, hurry!_" Shel shouted. Lilo stood as though she was mesmerized, but snapped out of it after Angel had screamed at her to jump again. Weakly she bent down, and launched herself up into the air, trying to gain momentum by kicking her legs. Lilo felt suddenly disoriented, she couldn't control her speed or direction anymore, and started to waft slowly. Angel arrived at the airlock, and placed Stitch inside, she then glanced back at Lilo, who had just barely gotten off the ground. _"She's not going to make it..."_ Angel thought.

A serious expression dawned her face. _"Hold on, I'm coming."_ She told Lilo silently. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the sides of the airlock door and catapulted herself full speed out of the airlock, plummeting toward the ground like a skydiver. She met Lilo halfway, and caught her in midair, and continued to plummet toward the metal floor of the station. Sentinels began to fire at her, but their accuracy was too slow for the speed Angel was going. Upon impact to the ground, Angel braced herself, and slammed hard against the grate platform. Shifting Lilo to her feet, Angel flattened her cheek against the floor, and pushed off with forceful scream. The sentinels continued to fire, and one hit Angel's back. She turned while drifting and shifted Lilo onto her back like she had Stitch positioned before, and hissed at the sentinels, while dodging the rest of their fire, all while speeding toward the ship faster then she was falling before.

The airlock began to close as the ship left the atmosphere, Angel was fighting against time, and she wasn't too happy about it. She turned around again, moving Lilo below her and locking her arms and legs together, narrowing herself, darting toward the closing doors at an insane speed, brushing past them just before they closed on her tail. She slammed hard into the metal wall, but recovered quickly, and slowly sat down as the low gravity left them.

"_Are you ok?_" She asked to the slump Lilo in her arms. There wasn't a response. A small impulse of fear ran through Angel's mind, but it was proved wrong as she looked at Lilo's face.. _"She's asleep..."_ Angel chuckled to herself. _"I guess I shouldn't have caught you so suddenly."_

"How are they being?" Jumba asked, as Angel came quietly to the front of the ship.

"_Still sleeping like babies._" She replied, looking back. Stitch was calmly breathing on one end of the passenger seats, while Lilo slept soundly with her arm dangling to the floor on the other.

"Sheesh, what happened to them? Anesthetic?"

"_I guess this whole thing took more out of both of them then they thought._" Angel shrugged. _"But somehow...I know it had something to do with Stitch and Lilo's embrace..."_ She said to herself.

"We will be entering earth's atmosphere in about five minutes. Will be about night time, would you perhaps help me to take them to their room when we are arriving back?"

"_I can._" She responded, looking out the windshield at the rainbow around them and smiling. Jumba was mostly silent for the rest of the trip. He closed his eyes and pressed the autopilot button.. _"I still don't know..." _Angel thought, after a moment. _"I haven't thought about it for days...but I still don't know if I can talk about it with Stitch...I want to tell him, but I just don't know if it'll come out right..."_ Angel kept her thoughts centered around this subject until Jumba interrupted her.

"624...are you being conscious? Are being home, back on earth, at little girl's house." Angel snapped out of her contemplation, immediately noticing the trees that came into view outside the windshield. "Be coming along, am needing help carrying one of these two." Angel hopped off the seat, and walked toward the pair, still sleeping as if nothing had happened. "Pick one, I will take the other." Angel nodded, and lifted Stitch by the arms, getting him over her shoulder. Jumba reached for Lilo, but Angel put Stitch into his hands.

"_Here._" She said, as he caught Stitch, trying not to drop him onto Lilo.

"You're taking little girl then?" He asked curiously.

"Eh." She replied.

"Ok..." Jumba shrugged, "Is, by me, being fine." Angel seized Lilo and jumped out of the ship, hitting the soft grass loudly. Jumba had already headed for the house.

"_Thank you..._" Angel whispered to the sleeping girl, opening the door to the house after Jumba. _"I think I understand now..." _After arriving into the room at the top of the tower, she put Lilo gently onto the bed, and lifted the covers over her. She passed by Stitch, on her way to the window, and stared at him for a moment, finding the slumbering smile on his face peaceful.

"You are...going away then?" Jumba said, surprising Angel. She noticed that Jumba had a small needle in his hand, but didn't point that out.

"Eh...miga naga karubala..." She replied, shaking her head.

"Are you sure?" He asked, walking over to Stitch, and sticking the needle into the small welt on his neck.

"Miga rasuba."

"You know they'll let you stay, 624." He said rhetorically. Angel nodded slightly. "But, it is not matters I am comfortable with dealing. To be honest, I was wondering when you were going to show up. I knew it would be now or later, you've been around our area lately; the scanner, it does not lie." Angel's eyes opened wide, the setting sun's light glimmered off of them as Jumba turned toward the elevator..

_"He's known I've been around this whole time? Then...that means..."_

"I was going to tell 626, but he and little girl seemed to be occupied with other things." Jumba paused, staring at the blood sample he had taken of Stitch, his back still turned to Angel. "But is no matter." He smiled. "Am wishing you for good luck, my friend." He waved, as he pressed the elevator button and went down. Angel took in a sigh, staring at the two sleeping once again, before opening the window, and proceeding to the leafy meadow.

"_I'll be waiting here, boochie-boo, like I waited before all of this happened. Maybe now we'll get a chance to talk._" She said, imagining Stitch would hear her, as she walked off slowly into the twilight.

Stitch opened his eyes, sitting up quickly with a tiny yell as he woke abruptly from the dream that had played in his mind. He relived the whole thing over again, and scared himself awake just when the command of Hamsterveil would have shocked him again. He panted, relieved to see that he was in his bed, but still a bit confused.

_"How did I get here?"_ He thought. _"Wait, where's-,"_ He jerked his head to the right, and spotted Lilo sleeping quietly halfway under the covers. He saw the rip in her left sleeve, and looked down at his right claw where the fabric had been before. Softly he sighed, knowing he was unable to get to sleep again, and climbed down out of the bed.

"Stitch?" Lilo groaned, waking up as he hit the ground with a muffled thud. She panned the room, but couldn't see him camouflaged against the wall. "Stitch?" She called louder, looking around again, but still didn't see anything in the dark room. She felt a small tap on her shoulder. "Sti-"She began to yell in surprise.

"Iga!" Stitch whispered loudly, clamping his hands over Lilo's mouth to keep her quiet. He put a finger to his lips; Lilo nodded her head as she relaxed her shoulders. "Soka...miga esupa tocusa." He apologized, his voice purring slightly.

"It's ok." She replied lowly, sitting up. "How are you feeling?"

"Neck hurts..." he said, jumping up on the bed and rubbing the swelling.

"I'm sorry." She said sympathetically, giving him a hug. "Hey...where's Angel?"

"Angel?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah," Lilo said with concern about Angel's absence, looking around the room, "she was just here...she must have left again. I wish she would stay."

"Stitch supposed to meet Angel." He said, recalling a few days ago.

"When?" Lilo asked curiously.

"Before kidnapped." He replied. Lilo looked at the dark wall, thinking for a second. "Ju sagusta mochi-"

"Stitch...go. See if you can find her." Lilo interrupted, as if she didn't hear him speak.

"Gaba?"

"She can't be far, go find her, you were supposed to meet her anyway."

"...Does Lilo have something to say to Angel?" He asked, wondering what made her give such an odd command.

"No...I just want you to meet her...that's all." She replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. Stitch sill gave a confused expression. "Just go...please?" Lilo asked, giving him a sad puppy act.

"Ok...ok..." Stitch replied submissively. He sniffed the air, and immediately caught Angel's scent, and looked back toward Lilo. She nodded him on, encouraging him to go. Hesitantly, he went toward the window, opened it, and leapt outside. The cool night air ruffled his fur, as he fluttered down from the tower, landing hard on the ground below. As soon as he caught his balance, he followed the freshest trail Angel had left.

He followed it into the woods, through the brush and around the trees; past the clearing where he had met her the first time, before Achie-baba Kino; past the lake that he remembered swimming in; past the very spot where he had been kidnapped by Gantu, just a few days ago; and finally he came upon the leafy meadow, where there was a lonely tree on a solitary hill. Angel's trail stopped, and he heard the rustling of the leaves down in the valley below.

"Angel?" He shouted, his voice echoing across the grassy hills, swaying in the light, night wind. "Angel?" He called again, knowing she was there. He walked along the meadow, through the thick layer of leaves. It suddenly caught his attention that there was a mass amount of leaves, for such a place that has not many trees. Stitch stopped, listening for something that sounded different from the wind rustling the soft green ground. Over to his left, and close behind him on the slope of a hill, he heard the thump of a footstep. "Angel?"

She blinked and flinched as Stitch turned around, almost as if she was about to run and hide. Her hands were together nervously, like a shy schoolgirl about to ask her boyfriend out on a date. Stitch stepped up onto the hill, noticing the tree behind Angel in his perspective. She sat down; the expression on her face saddened a little as her hands came to her knees. Stitch slowed his pace, and sat on the grass next to her, facing the leaves in the meadow, the moon behind them blocked by the hump of the hill. Stitch knew that Angel was troubled, and wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but he dared not speak. She knew he wouldn't talk, unless she spoke first, or asked him a question.

"_I...used to hate her..._" She said nervously, trying not to look at him directly in the eyes.. Stitch's expression didn't change; the slight smile on his face was telling her that he would let her go at her own pace; that he was listening to her undividedly. "_I used to hate Lilo._" She finally confessed, closing her eyes and looking away.

"Why?" Stitch asked, intimating for her to explain more, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"_I used to think...that she was taking you away from me._" She said, still looking down with her eyes closed shamfully. "_I'm sorry._"

"For what?"

"_For deceiving you...and luring you into a trap. I shouldn't have made you fight Achie-baba Kino._"

"Stitch forgive; all in past." He told her, putting his paw on hers, and leaning toward her affectionately. She smiled with comfort, looking up at his gentle kindness..

"_I know...but I still want to tell you..._" Stitch nodded, as she looked at him, his smile still calm and friendly. _"I was with her, when we tried to rescue you. She and I were on an alien planet alone for a short time._" Stitch remained silent, and closed his eyes to imagine every word Angel was saying, as Angel took a moment to gather her thoughts. _"Though there were times before...it was really then that I finally realized, she wasn't taking you away from me. I was just jealous, and blaming it on her, avoiding you._" Angel laid down as well, taking in a sigh of satisfaction.

"What did Angel want to talk about, before Stitch was kidnapped?"

"_That was what I was going to talk to you about...I wanted to get that off my shoulders...but I sort of did that on my own._ _However...there was one other thing..._"

"Will Angel stay?" Stitch asked quickly, but meekly, sneaking in the question when Angel least expected it.

"_That was the other thing...Stitch, I can't stay...I've only had a little while to think about it...but I've decided I can't._"

"Can Angel at least say why this time?" He asked, the same way as before.

"_I don't know if you would understand...I can't exactly describe it..._"

"Try. Stitch wants to know." He pleaded. Angel sighed; this was the topic she didn't know how to discuss quite well. But Stitch didn't pressure her at all. He merely stared up at the stars, awaiting her response.

"_When the hangar was about to explode, after Achie-baba Kino was defeated, I looked in and saw you two. You looked where I had been, and then immediately buffered Lilo from the explosion, after you saw I wasn't around. At first, I thought, 'what if I was there, would he have protected me instead?'"_ Stitch squinted harder into the darkness of the night sky, trying to see what Angel saw during the time of that incident.

"_But then...another thought occurred to me. 'What if Lilo got hurt at the cost of Stitch protecting me?_'" She said, terry-eyed. "_And now, I ended up having to take your role and had to be with her. But...whenever she asked me what I would do when we finally got to you...the only thing that came on my mind was 'Don't let Stitch hurt Lilo.'_" Angel looked away, trying to hide her tears from him. "_And now...it's like I can't figure out what to do. I've been evil, boochie-boo. I sided with Hamserveil and almost got Lilo hurt...or worse. And even before, when I was protecting her against you, all I could think to do was hurt you until you were unconscious. No matter what I do, I always end up being evil._"

"Naga evil, Angel good." He exclaimed, trying to cheer her up.

"_No..._you're_ good...I'm not. I want to be...but it's like there's something inside of me that's commanding me now. I don't know what it is...and I'm afraid it will make me do something worse then Achie-baba Kino. I don't want to hurt you or Lilo anymore, but it constantly is telling me to._" Angel spoke, hiding her desperation for help, and confusion. A spark shined in Stitch's eyes, after he thought about what she described for a moment, and he smiled with understanding.

"Stitch understands." He stated. "Stitch felt like Angel does now, long before Angel was activated." He reached to dry Angel's tears. "Each one of us has program. Stitch's program was to destroy. Miga evil before, but, disobeyed program, and now, miga good. Angel starting to disobey program."

"_Going... against my program?_"

"Eh. Angel good...just doesn't see it. But Stitch see it, right now." He said kindly, putting a hand to her cheek, and stroking it gently. Another idea came to him, and he smiled with excitement. "Lilo help Stitch turn good, Lilo can help Angel shibisa! Ju sugashta, gubataga?"

"_It's...simple..._" Angel said, thinking about what Stitch explained. It made sense to her completely.

"Angel stay now?" Stitch asked again, a bit quieter, but more excited. Angel closed her eyes and looked down as she sat up.

"_I want to...but I still can't._" Stitch began to speak again, but Angel put a finger to his lips. _"And my reason now, is this: you can't be around to protect Lilo _and_ me if something like Achie-baba Kino happens again. And...I'd rather you only had one person to worry about, rather then two. I know how much you care for Lilo, you showed me that when she was returning you back to normal earlier today. You almost choked me, but you wouldn't lay a nail on her. You hold her higher in your heart then me, I think._" Stitch looked at his feet with guilt, almost as if Angel was scolding him.

"Soka..."

"_No...it's not a bad thing..._" Angel quickly comforted him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "_I'd rather it be her you care for then me. As long as there's a threat out there, I can't stay around and have you protect me, while Lilo is in danger too._" Stitch gave a submissive sigh, and let Angel cuddle against his neck, as her way of trying to convince him to let her go.

"Miga lasopa." He told her slwoly.

"_That's it? You're really going to let me go?_"

"Eh. Angel's decision, and...Stitch agrees. As long as Angel comes by...every now and then?" Angel smiled, and nodded her head, small fog of subtle happiness forming over her eyes. The clouds in the sky lit up, as a ray of sunlight tipped up over the horizon.

"_Stitch...you'd better go._" Angel said, standing up quickly, and holding a paw out to him.

"Why so soon?" He asked, taking her hand.

"_Lilo will be worried...if you don't come back before sunrise. Trust me...neither of us want to be worried about you missing again._" Stitch smiled. Angel noticed the blush that was on his face in the light, and wondered how long it had been there. "_Go._" She commanded, kissing him on the cheek. He blinked a few times, surprised by the sudden affection, stared into Angel's eyes for a moment longer, and then quickly took off toward the house. _"That was so simple..." _Angel thought, as she saw her love disappear into the darkness with a confident and lighthearted stride. _"All of the answers were right in front of me...I just didn't want to see them..."_

Stitch climbed quietly through the window, shutting it lightly, half expecting Lilo to be awake when he arrived. However, as he glanced over, she was fast asleep. Swiftly he dropped down to the floor, and lightly pounced on the bed, not making a sound or motion. Meekly, he crawled on all fours to Lilo, and pushed up under her arm, situating it around his neck.

"Huh?" She asked, suddenly startled, but didn't say anything else. Stitch closed his eyes, and softly purred, as Lilo smiled and began to scratch his ears. The silence was calming. The two 'siblings' didn't speak at all, and merely enjoyed each other's company, as now things were back to normal. Inside, both of them felt relieved, and yet empty.

After what had happened the last month, they were glad things were quiet again. But at the same time, they wished that something else would happen. Because it seemed like every time they were put against an impossible trial to overcome. And even though they lost hope, it all turned out right in the end, and each time they were brought closer together.

"Stitch loves Lilo." He whispered softly, breaking the silence, but only once. Lilo smiled back.

"I love you too, Stitch."

Atichura

(The end)

(Protection: coming soon.)


End file.
